Skip to content
Curated category

Buddhist ethics

  • VinayaIn the early years of the Buddha's teaching, the sangha lived together in harmony without any written rules. All disciples were highly realized if not fully…
  • AhimsaThe Sanskrit word ahimsa derives from the root hims, meaning to strike or injure. The prefix a- negates this action, creating a term that translates directly…
  • DānaThe Rigveda, composed in the second millennium BCE, contains the earliest known discussions of dana. Book 10, Hymn 117 translates to a plea for truth and…
  • SatyaThe Sanskrit word satya appears in the Rigveda, a text dated to the second millennium BCE. This ancient manuscript contains the earliest known discussion of…
  • Buddhist ethicsThe Buddhist king Ashoka built pillars throughout the Indian subcontinent inscribed with edicts promoting Buddhist moral virtues and precepts.
  • Merit (Buddhism)The Pāli word puñña translates literally as merit, meritorious action, or virtue. Theravāda commentator Dhammapāla defined it as that which cleanses the…
  • Noble Eightfold PathThe Pali term Ariya-magga translates to 'Noble Eightfold Path' in English, a convention established by early translators of Buddhist texts.