Buddhist terms, as the texts use them

A deep state of meditation reached through immersion, described in four stages marked by rapture, bliss, equanimity, and unification. 'No absorption for one without wisdom, no wisdom for one without absorption.' Whether absorption means complete stillness or a lighter stable focus is one of the most discussed questions in Buddhist meditation.

Appears in Dhp 360–382 “Mendicants” · See also immersion, rapture, bliss, equanimity

The five groups into which experience is analysed: form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. The Dhammapada says there is 'no suffering like the aggregates'; the discourses teach that each is to be seen as 'not mine, I am not this, this is not my self'. Sujato's 'choices' for the fourth aggregate is his own rendering, replacing 'formations'.

Appears in Dhp 197–208 “Happiness” · See also feeling, grasping, not-self, impermanent

A wandering religious practitioner who has left household life, of any tradition. Outsiders call the Buddha 'the ascetic Gotama', and 'ascetics and brahmins' is a stock phrase for religious people in general. The Dhammapada redefines the word by conduct: one 'is said to be an ascetic' because of stopping wicked deeds, not because of austerities.

Appears in Dhp 256–272 “The Just” · See also brahmin, mendicant

Seven qualities that mature into awakening: mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, and equanimity. The four kinds of mindfulness meditation 'fulfill the seven awakening factors', which in turn 'fulfill knowledge and freedom'.

Appears in MN 118 “Mindfulness of Breathing” · See also mindfulness meditation, energy, rapture, immersion, equanimity

A respectful title for the Buddha, most often in the formula of homage: 'Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha.' Where Sujato's prose usually says 'the Buddha', this title appears in devotional passages and in speech reported by others. Readers can take it simply as 'the honoured teacher'.

Appears in SN 7.1 “With Dhanañjānī” · See also the Buddha, the perfected one

Sujato's rendering of sukha in meditative contexts, elsewhere 'happiness'. It is the ease that follows tranquility and belongs to the first three absorptions. The Dhammapada says there is 'no bliss beyond peace'. It is a settled well-being, not excitement.

Appears in Dhp 197–208 “Happiness” · See also rapture, absorption

A member of the priestly class in the society the discourses describe, who often appears as a questioner or convert. The Dhammapada's final chapter reuses the word for anyone who is truthful and principled: 'not by matted hair or family, or birth is one a brahmin'. So the term carries both a social meaning and a redefined spiritual one.

Appears in Dhp 383–423 “Brahmins” · See also ascetic

The title the translations use for the teacher whose discourses these are; it means 'the awakened one'. Outsiders in the texts call him 'the ascetic Gotama'. He is usually introduced simply as 'the Buddha', staying at a monastery or grove and addressing the mendicants. Verses sometimes speak of 'the Buddhas' in the plural, as in 'the instruction of the Buddhas'.

Appears in AN 10.51 “Your Own Mind” · See also the Blessed One, the Realized One, the perfected one

The ending of craving and therefore of suffering, which is the third noble truth. Cessation is also something a meditator attends to while breathing, 'observing cessation'. The texts describe it as 'giving it away, letting it go, releasing it, and not clinging to it', and leave much else unsaid.

Appears in MN 141 “The Analysis of the Truths” · See also craving, the four noble truths, extinguishment

The wish that beings be free of suffering; the second of the four meditations taught alongside love, rejoicing, and equanimity. 'When you meditate on compassion any cruelty will be given up.' It is also recommended as a remedy for an individual you resent, which makes it an active concern rather than pity.

Appears in MN 62 “The Longer Advice to Rāhula” · See also love, rejoicing, equanimity, resentment

Comparing oneself with others as superior, inferior, or equal, and the sense of 'I am' behind such comparison. 'Give up anger, get rid of conceit, and escape every fetter.' The discourses speak of the conceit 'I am' being given up through developed practice, so noticing it is part of the work rather than a failure.

Appears in Dhp 221–234 “Anger” · See also fetter, not-self

A settled trust, often called 'experiential confidence' in the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha, which the texts describe in someone who has seen the teaching work. It is paired with faith in verses about giving: 'the people give according to their faith, according to their confidence.' Confidence here is the calm, clear quality of an inspired mind rather than self-assurance.

Appears in Dhp 235–255 “Stains” · See also faith

The thirst for pleasure, for continued existence, or for escape that the second noble truth names as the origin of suffering. The cessation of suffering is 'the fading away and cessation of that very same craving'. The Dhammapada has a chapter on it, and elsewhere says there is 'no river like craving'.

Appears in MN 141 “The Analysis of the Truths” · See also suffering, cessation, grasping

Sujato's plain word for intentional actions of body, speech, and mind. The formula 'sentient beings are the owners of their deeds and heir to their deeds' expresses that actions have consequences for the one who does them. The translations do not use the familiar Sanskrit loanword, with its popular sense of fate or reward.

Appears in AN 5.57 “Subjects for Regular Reviewing” · See also merit, skillful, unskillful

Mental stains, chiefly greed, hate, and delusion, that keep the mind unfree. Finding fault in others makes 'your defilements only grow'. Ending the defilements is what the perfected one has done. Sujato uses the English word for more than one Pali term, including āsava, sometimes translated 'taints' or 'outflows'.

Appears in Dhp 235–255 “Stains” · See also greed, hate, and delusion, the perfected one

Usually rendered 'the teaching' in Sujato's prose, but kept as 'the Dhamma' in some requests to the Buddha and in the Dhammapada's title, 'Sayings of the Dhamma'. It covers what the Buddha taught, the truth that teaching points to, and the practice that follows from it. Lowercase 'principles' in the mindfulness discourses translates the same Pali word in a different sense.

Appears in AN 8.54 “With Dīghajāṇu” · See also the Buddha, the Saṅgha, refuge

Attentive care not to let the mind drift into carelessness. The Dhammapada's second chapter is titled 'Diligence', and its verses say 'heedfulness is the state free of death'; Sujato uses both English words for the one Pali term. 'Delight in diligence!' is its refrain.

Appears in Dhp 320–333 “Elephants” · See also mindfulness, energy

The fifth hindrance: uncertainty about the teaching, the path, or one's own ability, which paralyses practice. The Dhammapada says no austerity 'will cleanse a mortal not free of doubt'. Readers usually distinguish it from honest questioning, of the kind the discourse to the Kālāmas (AN 3.65) invites.

Appears in Dhp 129–145 “The Rod” · See also hindrances, faith

The third hindrance: the mind sunk in heaviness, sluggishness, or sleepiness. The trainee resolves, 'others will be overcome with dullness and drowsiness, but here we will be rid of dullness and drowsiness.' Older translations say 'sloth and torpor'.

Appears in MN 8 “Self-Effacement” · See also hindrances, energy

Earth, water, fire, and air, understood as qualities of the body: solidity, fluidity, heat, and motion. Mindfulness of the body includes examining the body 'according to the elements'. Each is to be seen as 'not mine, I am not this, this is not my self'. The advice to Rāhula in MN 62 adds a fifth, space.

Appears in MN 28 “The Longer Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint” · See also mindfulness meditation, not-self, impermanent

Effort that is 'roused up and unflagging', an awakening factor and a path factor as right effort. The Buddha tells Soṇa that energy too forceful 'leads to restlessness' and too slack 'leads to laziness', like a lute string tuned neither too tight nor too loose.

Appears in AN 6.55 “With Soṇa” · See also awakening factors, diligence, dullness and drowsiness

Even-mindedness that is neither drawn toward nor pushed away by experience; the fourth of the four meditations with love, compassion, and rejoicing, and a feature of the higher absorptions. 'When you meditate on equanimity any aversion will be given up.' It is also a remedy for resentment, which suggests a balanced care rather than indifference.

Appears in MN 62 “The Longer Advice to Rāhula” · See also love, compassion, rejoicing, absorption

Moral conduct: the discipline of body and speech expressed in the precepts. It is one of the four accomplishments with faith, generosity, and wisdom, and the Dhammapada praises one who is 'steady in ethics'. Older translations say 'virtue' or 'morality'.

Appears in AN 8.54 “With Dīghajāṇu” · See also precepts, faith, generosity, wisdom

Sujato's translation of nibbāna, the goal of the path and 'the ultimate happiness'. Most translations keep the Pali; the English keeps the word's image of a fire going out. The texts pair it with peace, 'no bliss beyond peace', and the lessons quote lines that mention it without elaborating on what it is like.

Appears in Dhp 197–208 “Happiness” · See also cessation, greed, hate, and delusion, freedom

Trust or confidence in the Buddha and his teaching, listed with ethics, generosity, and wisdom as an accomplishment that leads to welfare and happiness. In the discourses faith appears as a starting point that the other accomplishments build on. Sujato sometimes uses 'confidence' for closely related words, such as the 'experiential confidence' of one who has seen the teaching work.

Appears in AN 8.54 “With Dīghajāṇu” · See also confidence, ethics, generosity, wisdom

The pleasant, painful, or neutral tone of experience, which is the second aggregate and the second focus of mindfulness meditation. A meditator knows 'I feel a pleasant feeling', whether of the flesh or not of the flesh. It does not mean emotion in the modern sense.

Appears in MN 10 “Mindfulness Meditation” · See also the aggregates, mindfulness meditation

What binds the mind and keeps a being caught in suffering and continued existence. Stream-enterers are those who have ended 'three fetters'. The Dhammapada urges readers to 'escape every fetter'. The word is a metaphor for whatever keeps the mind tied; the discourses name several fetters without always listing them.

Appears in Dhp 221–234 “Anger” · See also stream-entry, conceit, doubt

Suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the practice leading to its cessation. The Buddha's first discourse sets them out with tasks: understand, give up, realise, develop. One who has gone for refuge 'sees the four noble truths with right understanding'. All skillful qualities are said to fit inside them.

Appears in Dhp 179–196 “The Buddhas” · See also suffering, craving, cessation, the path

Release of the mind from the defilements, the outcome of the path. Dispassion 'is the vital condition for freedom', and freedom leads to 'the knowledge of ending'. Older translations say 'liberation' or 'release'.

Appears in SN 12.23 “Vital Conditions” · See also extinguishment, defilements, awakening factors

Giving and sharing freely, 'with heart rid of the stain of stinginess, freely generous, open-handed'. It is one of the four accomplishments and the basis of merit for lay followers. Sujato uses 'generosity' for cāga, the attitude, and 'giving' for dāna, the act itself.

Appears in AN 8.54 “With Dīghajāṇu” · See also merit, faith, ethics, wisdom

Leaving home to live as a mendicant, the first step of ordination. The Dhammapada says 'going forth is hard', while also noting that life at home is hard and painful. Converts in the discourses ask to 'receive the going forth' from the Buddha. It marks a change of life, not an inner attainment by itself.

Appears in Dhp 290–305 “Miscellaneous” · See also mendicant, the spiritual life

Clinging to or taking up experiences as 'mine', which the chain of conditions places between craving and continued existence. The aggregates are called 'grasping aggregates'. The Dhammapada praises those who 'delight in not grasping'. Older translations say 'clinging' or 'attachment'.

Appears in SN 12.23 “Vital Conditions” · See also craving, the aggregates, rebirth

The three unskillful roots, from which harmful action grows. Their opposites are contentment, love, and understanding. Recollecting the Buddha, a disciple's mind 'is not full of greed, hate, and delusion'. The texts describe uprooting them completely as the goal, 'cut off at the root, made like a palm stump'.

Appears in AN 3.69 “Unskillful Roots” · See also unskillful, defilements, extinguishment

A pleasant realm one may go to through generosity and good conduct, as when 'the givers go to heaven'. The Dhammapada ranks the fruit of stream-entry above going to heaven, so heaven is not presented as the final goal of the path. The lessons quote lines that mention it without elaborating.

Appears in Iti 26 “Giving” · See also merit, rebirth, stream-entry

Five mental states that obstruct meditation: sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt. The Buddha calls them 'obstacles and hindrances, parasites of the mind that weaken wisdom'. They are to be recognised when present and given up.

Appears in AN 5.51 “Obstacles” · See also sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, doubt

The second hindrance: aversion, hostility, or the wish for harm. 'When you meditate on love any ill will will be given up.' So the texts set love against it, the first of the four meditations on love, compassion, rejoicing, and equanimity. It is closely related to the resentment discussed in its own discourses.

Appears in AN 5.51 “Obstacles” · See also hindrances, love, resentment

Sujato's word for samādhi, more often rendered 'concentration'. It names a mind that is 'immersed and unified', calm and collected. The Buddha says 'develop immersion; a mendicant who has immersion truly understands'. It is an awakening factor and the last path factor. Sujato occasionally keeps the Pali in the phrase 'immersed in samādhi'.

Appears in SN 56.1 “Immersion” · See also absorption, right immersion, mindfulness

Subject to change and ending. 'All conditions are impermanent, when this is seen with wisdom, one grows disillusioned with suffering.' The discourses apply it to the elements and the aggregates alike. The verse ties seeing this 'with wisdom' to growing disillusioned with suffering, rather than to knowing it as a fact.

Appears in Dhp 273–289 “The Path” · See also not-self, suffering, wisdom

A householder who has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha, as the Buddha defines it for Mahānāma. Lay followers keep the precepts, practise generosity, and support the mendicants, while living with family and work. The feminine form is upāsikā; Sujato's 'lay follower' covers both.

Appears in AN 8.25 “With Mahānāma” · See also refuge, precepts, generosity, mendicant

Sujato's rendering of mettā, more often translated 'loving-kindness'. It is goodwill that wishes beings well. 'Meditate on love, for when you meditate on love any ill will will be given up.' It is also one of the three sources of skillful deeds, with contentment and understanding. The choice of plain 'love' is deliberate but can surprise readers.

Appears in MN 62 “The Longer Advice to Rāhula” · See also compassion, rejoicing, equanimity, ill will

A figure who personifies death, temptation, and everything that keeps beings bound. 'Māra strikes them down', the lazy and unrestrained, while meditators 'are released from Māra's bonds'. Whether read as a being, a metaphor, or both, the name marks the forces that oppose practice in the texts.

Appears in Dhp 1–20 “Pairs” · See also fetter, restraint

Sujato's word for a Buddhist monk or nun, someone who has gone forth from home and lives on alms. Most discourses open with the Buddha addressing 'the mendicants'. The term is gender-neutral in these translations, covering bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs. Advice given to mendicants is often applied by lay readers too, but the original audience was the monastic community.

Appears in AN 10.51 “Your Own Mind” · See also the Saṅgha, going forth, lay follower

The good that accrues from generous, ethical, and meditative action, described as 'overflowing' and as nurturing happiness in this life and later. Making merit is a central practice for lay followers in these texts. Readers may take it as the beneficial momentum of good action; how it carries across lives belongs to the texts' own framework.

Appears in AN 8.39 “Overflowing Merit” · See also deeds, generosity, heaven

Remembering to attend to what is happening now, with clarity. A mendicant's mindfulness is 'established and lucid' when the hindrances have been set aside. In the texts it usually appears alongside energy and clear awareness rather than on its own, so the popular sense of the word is narrower than the texts' use.

Appears in AN 4.12 “Ethics” · See also mindfulness meditation, situational awareness, hindrances

Sujato's rendering of satipaṭṭhāna, often translated 'foundations of mindfulness'. The four kinds are observing an aspect of the body, feelings, mind, and principles, 'keen, aware, and mindful'. The Buddha calls them 'the path to convergence' for purifying beings and realising extinguishment. Mindfulness of breathing is said to fulfil all four.

Appears in MN 10 “Mindfulness Meditation” · See also mindfulness, feeling, awakening factors

A follower of the Buddha who has taken up the training seriously, and in many passages one who has gained some direct insight into the teaching. Discourses describe how a noble disciple reflects on their conduct, recollects the Buddha, or makes merit. Whether the phrase always implies an attainment or sometimes just committed practice is debated among readers of the texts.

Appears in SN 55.7 “The People of Bamboo Gate” · See also lay follower, stream-entry, faith

Right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. Each factor is developed so that it 'ripens as letting go'. Good friends are said to help a mendicant develop it. It is the practical content of the fourth noble truth.

Appears in SN 45.8 “Analysis” · See also right view, right immersion, the path

The teaching that nothing in experience is a fixed self to own: 'All things are not-self, when this is seen with wisdom.' Sujato's hyphenated 'not-self' avoids the more metaphysical 'no self'. The discourses phrase it as a reflection: 'this is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.'

Appears in Dhp 273–289 “The Path” · See also impermanent, the aggregates, conceit

The way of practice that leads to the end of suffering, the fourth noble truth. In the Dhammapada 'this is the path, there is no other', and the Buddha says he has explained the path for 'extracting the thorn with wisdom'. When spelled out it is the noble eightfold path.

Appears in Dhp 273–289 “The Path” · See also the noble eightfold path, the four noble truths

Describes someone in whom the defilements have ended, chiefly the Buddha in the homage formula 'the blessed one, the perfected one'. Sujato uses 'perfected' where older translations keep the Pali 'arahant'. The Dhammapada has a chapter on 'The Perfected Ones'. It marks the end of the path rather than moral perfection in an everyday sense.

Appears in SN 7.1 “With Dhanañjānī” · See also defilements, stream-entry

Rules of conduct a follower undertakes and can 'recollect' as 'intact, impeccable, spotless'. Sujato writes 'ethical precepts' where the Pali has sīla, the word elsewhere rendered 'ethics', and 'precepts and observances' (sīlabbata) for rules and vows kept as such, which the Dhammapada says do not by themselves bring release. The five a lay follower keeps begin with giving up killing living creatures.

Appears in AN 6.10 “With Mahānāma” · See also ethics, lay follower, restraint

The mind's tendency to spin thoughts and concepts around experience. 'People enjoy proliferation, the Realized Ones are free of proliferation.' The Pali is hard to translate; readers can take it as mental elaboration that carries one away from what is actually present.

Appears in Dhp 235–255 “Stains” · See also the Realized One, mindfulness

A joyful uplift of mind and body that arises when the mind is gladdened, an awakening factor and a feature of the first two absorptions. 'When the mind is full of rapture, the body becomes tranquil.' Older translations say 'joy' or 'zest'.

Appears in AN 6.10 “With Mahānāma” · See also bliss, absorption, awakening factors

A title the Buddha uses for himself and that disciples use when recollecting him. The Pali is famously hard to translate; Sujato's 'Realized One' points to someone who has arrived at the truth, while other translators say 'Thus Gone One'. In the Dhammapada the plural 'Realized Ones' refers to awakened teachers who 'just show the way'.

Appears in AN 6.10 “With Mahānāma” · See also the Buddha, the Blessed One

Being born again after death, which the discourses speak of plainly and count as part of suffering. Sujato often uses this English word where the Pali says simply 'birth', as in the chain of conditions. Readers who set the cosmology aside can still notice how the texts link craving to continued existence.

Appears in MN 141 “The Analysis of the Truths” · See also craving, grasping, suffering

What one relies on for safety. The Dhammapada contrasts refuge in mountains and shrines, taken out of fear, with 'going for refuge' to the Buddha, the teaching, and the Saṅgha. Taking these three refuges is what makes someone a lay follower. Going for refuge is presented as a deliberate act of trust rather than a ritual.

Appears in Dhp 179–196 “The Buddhas” · See also the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Saṅgha, lay follower

Gladness at the good fortune and goodness of others; the third of the four meditations with love, compassion, and equanimity. 'When you meditate on rejoicing any discontent will be given up.' Older translations say 'sympathetic joy' or 'appreciative joy'. Sujato's plain 'rejoicing' names the felt quality rather than the concept.

Appears in MN 62 “The Longer Advice to Rāhula” · See also love, compassion, equanimity

Giving up sensual pursuits, and the peace found in doing so: the Buddhas are those 'who love the peace of renunciation'. It appears as a content of right purpose and as an attitude of letting go, rather than as deprivation for its own sake.

Appears in Dhp 179–196 “The Buddhas” · See also seclusion, sensual desire, going forth

Hostility held toward someone, the subject of two discourses on 'Getting Rid of Resentment'. The five remedies include developing love, compassion, or equanimity toward the person, paying them no attention, and reflecting that they are 'the owner of their deeds'. It is a practical rather than theoretical list.

Appears in AN 5.161 “Getting Rid of Resentment (1st)” · See also ill will, love, compassion, equanimity, deeds

The fourth hindrance: agitation and worry, including regret over past actions. When the heart is 'overcome and mired' in it, even well-rehearsed verses don't spring to mind. It is the opposite failure to dullness, an over-active rather than a sunken mind.

Appears in SN 46.55 “With Saṅgārava” · See also hindrances, dullness and drowsiness

Guarding the senses and conduct: 'restraint of the eye is good, good is restraint of the ear'. It is the discipline of not chasing every sight and sound, which supports mindfulness and ethics. The verses describe it as good rather than as suppression.

Appears in Dhp 360–382 “Mendicants” · See also precepts, mindfulness, Māra

The last path factor, defined as the four absorptions entered in sequence, 'secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities'. It is the mind unified and steady. How deep the absorptions must be, and how they relate to insight, is debated among teachers and translators.

Appears in SN 45.8 “Analysis” · See also immersion, absorption, the noble eightfold path

The first factor of the path, defined as knowing about suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the practice leading to its cessation. It stands at the head of the noble eightfold path, and like the other factors it is described as something developed through practice rather than simply believed.

Appears in MN 141 “The Analysis of the Truths” · See also the noble eightfold path, the four noble truths, wisdom

The community of the Buddha's disciples, especially the mendicants, and one of the three refuges alongside the Buddha and the teaching. In narrative passages it means the group of monks travelling with the Buddha. In recollection passages disciples 'constantly recollect the Saṅgha' as a source of confidence. Some readers include committed lay followers; the texts mostly mean monastics.

Appears in Dhp 290–305 “Miscellaneous” · See also mendicant, refuge, the Dhamma

Withdrawal from company, from sensual pleasures, and from unskillful states. The first absorption has 'the rapture and bliss born of seclusion'. The Dhammapada also notes that living in seclusion by itself does not bring release; it is a support for practice, not a substitute.

Appears in Dhp 256–272 “The Just” · See also absorption, sensual desire, renunciation

The first hindrance: wanting pleasures of the senses. Meditation is described as 'secluded from sensual pleasures', which readers can understand as setting them down for the time being. One way to take the hindrance is not as enjoyment itself but as the pull that scatters attention and keeps the mind restless.

Appears in AN 5.51 “Obstacles” · See also hindrances, craving, seclusion

Clear comprehension of what one is doing, why, and whether it is fitting, usually paired with mindfulness. The mendicant who takes the mind's hint 'gets mindfulness and situational awareness'. Older translations say 'clear comprehension'. Sujato's term stresses knowing one's situation as it unfolds.

Appears in SN 47.8 “Cooks” · See also mindfulness

Sujato's word for kusala, often translated 'wholesome'. It describes actions and qualities that lead toward welfare and freedom, rooted in contentment, love, and understanding. 'All skillful qualities are included in the four noble truths.' One way to hear the word is as competence rather than obedience: acting well because one sees clearly.

Appears in MN 28 “The Longer Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint” · See also unskillful, deeds

The whole way of life devoted to the Buddha's path, which for mendicants includes celibacy. The Buddha tells Ānanda that good friends are 'the whole of the spiritual life', because with them one develops the noble eightfold path. Some translators say 'holy life' or 'celibate life'. Sujato's rendering keeps the broad sense of a life organised around practice.

Appears in SN 45.2 “Half the Spiritual Life” · See also the noble eightfold path, going forth

The first stage of awakening, in which three fetters end and one is 'destined for awakening'. The Dhammapada ranks its fruit above kingship, heaven, and 'lordship over all the world'. It is the goal most often presented to lay followers in these texts.

Appears in Dhp 167–178 “The World” · See also fetter, noble disciple, heaven

The word covers pain, stress, and the unsatisfactory quality of experience that changes, from grief to subtle dissatisfaction. It is the first noble truth, which 'should be completely understood'. Many readers feel 'suffering' is too strong for ordinary pleasant moments; the texts include those too, because they pass.

Appears in SN 56.11 “Rolling Forth the Wheel of Dhamma” · See also the four noble truths, craving, cessation, impermanent

Actions and qualities rooted in greed, hate, and delusion, which lead to harm and suffering. Whether by body, speech, or mind, the unskillful is what a practitioner learns to recognise and give up. The texts present it as something to be cut off rather than as a permanent mark on the person.

Appears in AN 3.69 “Unskillful Roots” · See also skillful, greed, hate, and delusion

Understanding that sees things as they are, especially impermanence, suffering, and not-self. 'From meditation springs wisdom, without meditation, wisdom ends.' It is the last of the four accomplishments alongside faith, ethics, and generosity, and the hindrances are said to weaken it.

Appears in Dhp 273–289 “The Path” · See also right view, impermanent, absorption