Glossary of Buddhist words

 Glossary

1. Buddha
   The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, after his enlightenment. It is a title which means the enlightened or awakened one.
2. CE
   Common Era.
3. chant
   Repeating religious phrases or quotations from sacred texts.
4. conscience
   An inner sense (or 'voice') which communicates what is right or wrong in one's behaviour.
5. Dhammapada
   The most famous of the Buddhist scriptures in the West, with 423 verses in the Pali canon.
6. dharma
   This word has various meanings which have to be understood from the context in which it is used. It can mean religious duty. In Buddhism it is most widely used to mean the Buddha’s teaching. It can also mean ‘the truth’.
7. enlightenment
   The realisation of the truth about life. In Buddhism it releases a person from the cycle of rebirth.
8. founder
   The person who is regarded as founding or starting a religion, eg Jesus was the founder of Christianity; the Buddha was the founder of Buddhism.
9. Jakata Tales (Jakata stories)
   A large collection of writings about the Buddha's previous lives. It is part of the Pali Canon.
10. Kalama Sutta
    A Buddhist scripture.
11. Kalamas
    The people of Kesaputta who are being taught the Kalama Sutta by the Buddha.
12. lay community
    People of the community who are not ordained; those who are not priests, monks or nuns.
13. Mahayana
    Teachings that spread from India into Tibet, parts of Asia and the Far East, characterised by the Bodhisatta ideal and the teaching of ‘emptiness’.
14. Mahayana sutras
    Sacred Buddhist scriptures.
15. meditation
    Thinking quietly as a spiritual or religious exercise. Connection of the mind and soul with the Divine using breathing and other techniques. In Buddhism, using one of a set of techniques or exercises for calming the mind, developing positive emotions and understanding the way things are.
16. monk
    A person who is a member of a monastic order, living under religious obedience.
17. nun
    A member of a religious community of women, living under communal rules.
18. ordained
    To become a member of the clergy in a religious ceremony. To take vows as a monk or nun.
19. rational thinking
    Using reason and evidence to think through an issue and make a decision.
20. Sangha
    The Buddhist community of practitioners, usually used to mean the community of monks.
21. Sanskrit
    An ancient language that is the root of most Indian languages.
22. scripture(s)
    A piece of writing that has religious significance.
23. sources of authority
    Religious texts or bodies responsible for guiding people on how to live.
24. sutras
    A Buddhist scripture.
25. Theravada
    Meaning ‘teachings of the elders'. It is primarily focused on the Arhat path to enlightenment. This branch of Buddhism can be found in Sri Lanka and South East Asia.
26. Three Refuges
    The three most important features of the Buddhist life, recited as an expression of belief and commitment: I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Sangha, I take refuge in the dhamma (teaching).
27. Tibetan Buddhism
    Buddhism originating in Tibet. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
28. tradition
    The beliefs, teachings and behaviour of a group. It may include scripture, oral teachings, laws and ritual practices.
29. Tripitaka
    Three baskets. A threefold collection of Buddhist texts (Vinaya, Sutta, Abhidhamma).

3 Pitakas

 Sutta Pitaka

Vinaya Pitaka

Abhidhammapitaka

Sutta Pitaka

It contains over 10 thousand suttas or sutras related to Buddha and his close companions. This also deals with the first Buddhist council which was held shortly after Buddha’s death, dated by the majority of recent scholars around 400 BC, under the patronage of king Ajatasatru with the monk Mahakasyapa presiding, at Rajgir.

Its sections are:

1. Digha Nikaya: Comprises the “long” discourses in 34 long sutras.
2. Majjhima Nikaya: Comprises the “middle-length” discourses in 152 sutras.
3. Samyutta Nikaya: Comprises the “connected” discourses in over 2800 sutras.
4. Anguttara Nikaya: Comprises the “numerical” discourses in over 9600sutras.
5. Khuddaka Nikaya: Comprises the “minor collection” It has 15-17 booklets. (Thai 15. Sinhali 17 & Burmese 18 booklets).

Vinaya Pitaka

The subject matter of Vinay Pitaka is the monastic rules for monks and nuns. It can also be called as Book of Discipline.

• Suttavibhanga: The basic code of Monastic discipline is known as It contains 227 rules for fully ordained Monks called bikkhus (Maha vibhanga) and 311 rules for fully ordained nuns called Bikkhunis (Bikkhuni Vibhanga) They are contained in Suttavibhanga, one of the parts of Vinay Pitaka.
• Khandhaka:Khandhaka is the second book of Vinay Pitaka. It has two volumes viz. Mahavagga and Cullavagga. Mahavagga deals with the awakening of Buddha and his great disciples. Cullavagga deals with the first and second Buddhist councils and establishments of community of Buddhist nuns and rules for Buddhist community.
• Parivara: Parivara is the last book of Vinaya Pitaka. It covers the summary of analysis of rules mentioned in first two books of Vinay Pitaka. Its is latest book and seems to be later than the Fourth Buddhist Coincil in Ceylon. It also contains questions and answers.

Abhidhammapitaka

Abhidhammapitaka deals with the philosophy and doctrine of Buddhism appearing in the suttas. However, it does not contain the systematic philosophical treatises. There are 7 works of Abhidhamma Pitaka which most scholars agree that don’t represent the words of Buddha himself. The 7 books are

1. Dhammasangani: It contains a matrix which lists the classification of Dhammas or ideas.
2. Vibhanga :It has 18 chapters dealing with different teachings of Buddhism. It is in 3 volumes and third volume is in question answer format.
3. Dhatukatha:It has a matrix and various topics.
4. Puggalapannatti: It has a matrix which deals with the list of the persons.
5. Kathavatthu:It contains the debates and commentary on thoese debates.
6. Yamaka :Yamaka has questions in pairs and understanding.
7. Patthana :It also contains the questions and answers.

The following graphic shows the Tripitaka of Buddhism.

5 moral precepts

 Specifically, all Buddhists live by five moral precepts, which prohibit:

• Killing living things
• Taking what is not given
• Sexual misconduct
• Lying
• Using drugs or alcohol

Four Noble Truths

 Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths, which Buddha taught, are:

• The truth of suffering (dukkha)
• The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
• The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)
• The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga)

Collectively, these principles explain why humans hurt and how to overcome suffering.

Eightfold Path

 Eightfold Path

The Buddha taught his followers that the end of suffering, as described in the fourth Noble Truths, could be achieved by following an Eightfold Path. 

In no particular order, the Eightfold Path of Buddhism teaches the following ideals for ethical conduct, mental disciple, and achieving wisdom:

• Right understanding (Samma ditthi)
• Right thought (Samma sankappa)
• Right speech (Samma vaca)
• Right action (Samma kammanta)
• Right livelihood (Samma ajiva)
• Right effort (Samma vayama)
• Right mindfulness (Samma sati)
• Right concentration (Samma samadhi)

Karma

 Karma

A fundamental aspect of Buddhism is the teaching that you are responsible for your own life and your future circumstances (as well as your future lives)—whether you experience happiness, misery, etc.—and that your actions and behavior can bring good or bad karma. If you are kind to others, the belief is that they will be kind in return, but more importantly, that means you will experience good karma in your present and next life. On the other hand, if you are not nice to others, you will get your just deserts in some form in the near or distant future as well as in the next life through bad karma. The point is to be careful about how you interact with others: everything you do decides what you have to contend with in transmigration.

The word karma is from Sanskrit, where, fittingly, it refers to one's work as well as one's fate; it begins appearing in English writing in the early 1800s. Hippie generations adopted the philosophical term in various senses referring to one's feelings, the emotional atmosphere, luck, or whatever is pleasant or pleasurable, and now karma is every day.

While Roth was pregnant and struggling to keep food in the house for her other children, her family helped her and Proctor through their financial struggle. "Now we're in a more positive place in our lives, and we want to turn our bad karma into good karma," Roth said.
— The Hillsdale Collegian, 22 Mar. 2018

Nirvana

 Nirvana

English readers of religious philosophy were first enlightened on the Buddhist concept of nirvana in the early 19th century. The word is a borrowing from Sanskrit that means "the act of extinguishing" and, in Buddhism, it refers to a state in which desire and one's conscious attachment to things in secular life (or, in particular, the negative emotions these desires/attachments bring about) are extinguished through disciplined meditation. Once these things are vanquished, peace, tranquility, and enlightenment are said to be fully experienced; ignorance dissolves and the truth becomes fully known.

In nirvana, a person also not only enters a transcendent state of freedom of all negativity but breaks free of the religion's beliefs in the continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth and the effects of karma—the force created by one's actions that is to determine what that person's next life will be like. A person who has gained insight into the true nature of existence in the cosmos and has achieved nirvana is known as an arhat, or an arahant, in some schools of Buddhism.

By the end of the 19th century, people were using nirvana figuratively for any secular state or place of great happiness and peace.

My favorite party scene is outdoors on brick-lined East 4th Street, a block of renovated buildings connected by strings of twinkling lights. It's people-watching nirvana even before you wander into the bars, clubs and restaurants….
— Fran Golden, The Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2017

SUM function

 The SUM function adds values. You can add individual values, cell references or ranges or a mix of all three.

For example:

• =SUM(A2:A10) Adds the values in cells A2:10.

• =SUM(A2:A10, C2:C10) Adds the values in cells A2:10, as well as cells C2:C10.

SUM(number1,[number2],...)

Argument name	Description
number1    Required	The first number you want to add. The number can be like 4, a cell reference like B6, or a cell range like B2:B8.
number2-255    Optional	This is the second number you want to add. You can specify up to 255 numbers in this way.

This section will discuss some best practices for working with the SUM function. Much of this can be applied to working with other functions as well.

The =1+2 or =A+B Method – While you can enter =1+2+3 or =A1+B1+C2 and get fully accurate results, these methods are error prone for several reasons:

1. Typos – Imagine trying to enter more and/or much larger values like this:

   • =14598.93+65437.90+78496.23

   Then try to validate that your entries are correct. It’s much easier to put these values in individual cells and use a SUM formula. In addition, you can format the values when they’re in cells, making them much more readable then when they’re in a formula.

   

2. #VALUE! errors from referencing text instead of numbers

   If you use a formula like:

   • =A1+B1+C1 or =A1+A2+A3

   

   Your formula can break if there are any non-numeric (text) values in the referenced cells, which will return a #VALUE! error. SUM will ignore text values and give you the sum of just the numeric values.

   

3. #REF! error from deleting rows or columns

   

   If you delete a row or column, the formula will not update to exclude the deleted row and it will return a #REF! error, where a SUM function will automatically update.

   

4. Formulas won't update references when inserting rows or columns

   

   If you insert a row or column, the formula will not update to include the added row, where a SUM function will automatically update (as long as you’re not outside of the range referenced in the formula). This is especially important if you expect your formula to update and it doesn’t, as it will leave you with incomplete results that you might not catch.

   

5. SUM with individual Cell References vs. Ranges

   Using a formula like:

   • =SUM(A1,A2,A3,B1,B2,B3)

   Is equally error prone when inserting or deleting rows within the referenced range for the same reasons. It’s much better to use individual ranges, like:

   • =SUM(A1:A3,B1:B3)

   Which will update when adding or deleting rows.

VLOOKUP

 Use VLOOKUP when you need to find things in a table or range by row.

1. Select a cell.

2. Type =VLOOKUP( and then select the value to lookup.

3. Type a comma (,) and select the range or table to look for the value.

4. Type a comma (,) and the number of the column where the lookup value is located.

5. Type ,FALSE) to find an exact match.

6. Press Enter.

The formula for the video example is as follows:

=VLOOKUP(A7, A2:B5, 2, FALSE).

In its simplest form, the VLOOKUP function says:

=VLOOKUP(lookup value, range containing the lookup value, the column number in the range containing the return value, optionally specify TRUE for approximate match or FALSE for an exact match).

XLOOKUP function

 Use the XLOOKUP function to find things in a table or range by row. For example, look up the price of an automotive part by the part number, or find an employee name based on their employee ID. With XLOOKUP, you can look in one column for a search term, and return a result from the same row in another column, regardless of which side the return column is on.

Syntax

The XLOOKUP function searches a range or an array, and then returns the item corresponding to the first match it finds. If no match exists, then XLOOKUP can return the closest (approximate) match. 

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array, [if_not_found], [match_mode], [search_mode]) 

Argument	Description
lookup_value Required*	The value to search for *If omitted, XLOOKUP returns blank cells it finds in lookup_array.
lookup_array Required	The array or range to search
return_array Required	The array or range to return
[if_not_found] Optional	Where a valid match is not found, return the [if_not_found] text you supply. If a valid match is not found, and [if_not_found] is missing, #N/A is returned.
[match_mode] Optional	Specify the match type: 0 - Exact match. If none found, return #N/A. This is the default. -1 - Exact match. If none found, return the next smaller item. 1 - Exact match. If none found, return the next larger item. 2 - A wildcard match where *, ?, and ~ have special meaning.
[search_mode] Optional	Specify the search mode to use: 1 - Perform a search starting at the first item. This is the default. -1 - Perform a reverse search starting at the last item. 2 - Perform a binary search that relies on lookup_array being sorted in ascending order. If not sorted, invalid results will be returned. -2 - Perform a binary search that relies on lookup_array being sorted in descending order. If not sorted, invalid results will be returned.

Examples

Example 1    uses XLOOKUP to look up a country name in a range, and then return its telephone country code. It includes the lookup_value (cell F2), lookup_array (range B2:B11), and return_array (range D2:D11) arguments. It doesn't include the match_mode argument, as XLOOKUP produces an exact match by default.

Note: XLOOKUP uses a lookup array and a return array, whereas VLOOKUP uses a single table array followed by a column index number. The equivalent VLOOKUP formula in this case would be: =VLOOKUP(F2,B2:D11,3,FALSE)

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Example 2    looks up employee information based on an employee ID number. Unlike VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP can return an array with multiple items, so a single formula can return both employee name and department from cells C5:D14.

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Example 3    adds an if_not_found argument to the preceding example.

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Example 4    looks in column C for the personal income entered in cell E2, and finds a matching tax rate in column B. It sets the if_not_found argument to return 0 (zero) if nothing is found. The match_mode argument is set to 1, which means the function will look for an exact match, and if it can't find one, it returns the next larger item. Finally, the search_mode argument is set to 1, which means the function will search from the first item to the last.

Note: XARRAY's lookup_array column is to the right of the return_array column, whereas VLOOKUP can only look from left-to-right.

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Example 5    uses a nested XLOOKUP function to perform both a vertical and horizontal match. It first looks for Gross Profit in column B, then looks for Qtr1 in the top row of the table (range C5:F5), and finally returns the value at the intersection of the two. This is similar to using the INDEX and MATCH functions together.

Tip: You can also use XLOOKUP to replace the HLOOKUP function.

Note: The formula in cells D3:F3 is: =XLOOKUP(D2,$B6:$B17,XLOOKUP($C3,$C5:$G5,$C6:$G17)).

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Example 6    uses the SUM function, and two nested XLOOKUP functions, to sum all the values between two ranges. In this case, we want to sum the values for grapes, bananas, and include pears, which are between the two.

The formula in cell E3 is: =SUM(XLOOKUP(B3,B6:B10,E6:E10):XLOOKUP(C3,B6:B10,E6:E10))

How does it work? XLOOKUP returns a range, so when it calculates, the formula ends up looking like this: =SUM($E$7:$E$9). You can see how this works on your own by selecting a cell with an XLOOKUP formula similar to this one, then select Formulas > Formula Auditing > Evaluate Formula, and then select Evaluate to step through the calculation.