S

The name of the historical Buddha, who is also known as Shakyamuni. Siddhartha means one who achieves his goal, while Gautama is his family or clan name. The title Shakyamuni means sage of the Shakya tribe,…

Translated as calm abiding, shamatha is a meditative practice that cultivates mental stability, clarity, and tranquility through sustained concentration. On its own, calm abiding pacifies mental agitation; when paired with insight (vipassana), it supports the direct…

Secular Buddhism is a modern approach that emphasizes ethical practice, meditation, and psychological insight while downplaying or rejecting Buddhism’s supernatural elements, such as rebirth or cosmology. Emerging primarily in Western contexts in the 20th century, Secular…

A term meaning memory or recollection, commonly translated as mindfulness. In Buddhist practice, sati refers to the capacity to remember and sustain attention on ethical commitments and objects of meditation, such as the body, breath, feelings,…

Literally meaning wandering, samsara refers to the ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth driven by ignorance and karma. In Buddhist cosmology, samsara encompasses six realms of rebirth: gods (devas), titans (asuras), humans, animals, hungry ghosts…

The sangha (community) is one of the three jewels of Buddhism, alongside the Buddha and the dharma (teachings). Traditionally, sangha refers to the community of ordained monastics who preserve and transmit the teachings. In contemporary usage,…