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Pali words and phrases

  • AnapanasatiA Buddha statue sits in quiet meditation, hands resting gently on its lap. This image represents the practice known as anāpānasati, meaning mindfulness of…
  • VedanāThe Pali word vedanā translates simply as feeling or sensation. It refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when internal sense…
  • 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…
  • 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…
  • Sati (Buddhism)In 1881, Thomas William Rhys Davids first translated the Pali term sati into English as mindfulness. This translation appeared in his work Buddhist Suttas…
  • SaṅkhāraThe word sañkhāra appears in the Pali Canon and Sanskrit texts as a term meaning 'formations' or 'that which has been put together'.
  • TaṇhāThe word tañhā appears in the Samhita layer of the Rigveda, dated to the 2nd millennium BCE. It surfaces in hymns such as 1.7.11 and 3.9.3 with meanings like…