Glossary: S.
The glossary is a simple dictionary of terms you will find in Buddhism. You may not find an entry you're looking for. This is because I haven't included it yet. This is so, even if you've clicked a link to it elsewhere. So, if you can't find an entry today, try again at a later date.
Saṃgha. This is a Sanskrit and Pali word meaning “group” or “collection”. It is often written as “sangha”. This is the Buddhist community, or more specifically those ordained as monks or nuns. As the monks and nuns it is one of the triratna, the Three Jewels.
Samsara. This is a Sanskrit and Pali word meaning “flowing on”. Not to be confused with saṃskāra or saṃskṛta. This is the continual cycle of birth, old age, death and rebirth. The cycle arises ultimately from āvidyā, and ends with bodhi to Nirvana. See also: punarbhava.
Saṃskāra. This is a Sanskrit word meaning “formation”. The Pali word is saṅkhāra. Not to be confused with samsara or saṃskṛta. These are the activities that form or condition the individual’s moral and spiritual development. They are the fourth of the skandhas, “Five Aggregates.” They are the second link, nidāna, of pratītya-samutpāda, “dependent origination.” They refer particularly to intentions. These imprint on the psyche through repetition and carry into the next lifetime. These formations that come into being dependent upon causes and conditions apply to external phenomena or dharmas also. See also: karma.
Saṃskṛta. This is a Sanskrit word meaning “conditioned”. The Pali word is saṅkhata. Not to be confused with samsara or saṃskāra. Phenomena, dharmas, that are brought into existence by contributory causes. This applies to anything that bears the characteristics of utpāda, arising, sthiti, duration, and vyaya, disappearance. This therefore applies to samsara but not to Nirvana, which transcends pratītya-samutpāda, dependent origination.
Samudāya. This is a Sanskrit and Pali word meaning “arising”. It is the name given to the second of the Four Noble Truths. It is the arising of duḥkha from tṛṣṇā, craving or greed, dveṣa, hatred or anger, and avidyā, illusion or delusion. See also: kleśa.
Sangha. See: saṃgha.
Saṅkhāra. See: saṃskāra.
Saṅkhata. See: saṃskṛta.
Sanskrit. This is an ancient Indic language used to write Buddhist sūtras, usually those of the Mahayana branch. It is possibly an artificial language. Compare: Pali.
Siddhārtha Gautama. See: Buddha, in sense 2, and Gautama, Siddhārtha.
Siddhattha Gotama. See: Buddha, in sense 2, and Gautama, Siddhārtha.
Sīla. See: śīla.
Śīla. This is a Sanskrit word for “morality”. The Pali word is sīla. Morality in Buddhism is prescriptive rather than proscriptive. Buddhists usually follow a list of “precepts”, which guide behaviour. They are not commandments and not enforced by religious authority. Though monks and nuns usually have separate rules. A common list of precepts is the pañca-śīla, or Five Precepts. The third, fourth and fifth steps on the Noble Eightfold Path are to do with śīla.
Skandha. This is a Sanskrit word meaning “aggregate”. The Pali word is khandha. There are five aggregates that make up the human individual as taught in Buddhism. In the Buddhist viewpoint the individual is not a single entity according to the concept of anātman, no-self. These are: rūpa, “form”; vedanā, “feelings”; saṃjñā, “perception”; saṃskāra, “volitional factors”; and vijñāna, “consciousness”. They are known as the aggregates of attachment. See also: tṛṣṇā.
Sorrow. See: duḥkha.
Stress. See: duḥkha.
Suffering. See: duḥkha.
Sukha. This is a Sanskrit and Pali word meaning “happiness”. 1. As a factor of dhyāna it is a quiet joy that may be contemplated with mere contentment. 2. It is sometimes used to represent pleasure as something that is fleeting and so a source of duḥkha.
Śūnyatā. This is a Sanskrit word usually translated as “emptiness”, “nothingness” or “voidness”. The Pali word is suññattā. This is a concept mainly of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. Its meaning varies from school to school. But it is generally taken as the ‘Ultimate Truth’ of Mahayana Buddhism. It is easily misunderstood by all but advanced practitioners, typically as representing a form of nihilism.
Sutta. See: Sūtra.
Sūtra. This is a Sanskrit word meaning “thread”. The Pali word is sutta. This is a discourse of the Buddha. The earliest are texts said to be the words of the Buddha. The number of sūtras runs to tens of thousands. Together these form the major works of thought in Buddhism.