Bilingual glossary of essential Buddhist terms with Chinese, Sanskrit, and English definitions
pútí · Bodhi
Awakening / Enlightenment
Bodhi is the Buddhist concept of awakening or enlightenment — the complete understanding of the true nature of reality. In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhi refers specifically to the supreme, perfect enlightenment attained by a fully realized Buddha.
fǎ / fófǎ · Dharma
Teaching / Universal Law
Dharma is a multivalent term in Buddhism referring both to the Buddha's teachings and to the universal laws governing all existence. As one of the Three Jewels — Buddha, Dharma, Sangha — the Dharma is the foundational refuge for all sentient beings seeking liberation from suffering.
yè / jiémó · Karma
Action and Its Consequences
Karma is the Buddhist principle that intentional actions of body, speech, and mind generate corresponding consequences. Wholesome actions produce favorable results and unwholesome actions produce suffering — a law of cause and effect that operates across lifetimes and drives the cycle of rebirth.
nièpán · Nirvāṇa
Liberation from Suffering
Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice — the extinguishing of the three fires of greed, hatred, and delusion, and the complete release from the cycle of rebirth. In Mahayana Buddhism, nirvana is not a passive cessation but an ultimate liberation inseparable from wisdom and compassion.
lúnhuí · Saṃsāra
Cycle of Rebirth
Samsara is the Buddhist concept of the cycle of existence in which sentient beings are reborn through the six realms — gods, humans, demigods, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings. Driven by ignorance and craving, beings revolve through birth and death until liberation through nirvana.
kōng · Śūnyatā
Emptiness
Sunyata, or emptiness, is the central teaching of Mahayana Buddhism — the insight that all phenomena lack inherent, independent existence and arise only through interdependent conditions. As the Heart Sutra teaches: 'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.' Emptiness is not nihilism but the recognition of radical interdependence.
bōrě · Prajñā
Transcendent Wisdom
Prajna is the transcendent wisdom in Buddhism that directly perceives the emptiness and true nature of all phenomena, beyond ordinary conceptual understanding. As the sixth and culminating paramita, prajna is the essential faculty of awakening — the very insight that the Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra illuminate.
kǔ · Duḥkha (Pali: Dukkha)
Suffering / Unsatisfactoriness
Dukkha is the first of the Four Noble Truths, encompassing three dimensions of unsatisfactoriness: the obvious suffering of pain and illness, the suffering of change and loss, and the pervasive unsatisfactoriness of conditioned existence itself. Recognizing dukkha is the beginning of the path to liberation.
wúcháng · Anicca (Pali)
Impermanence
Anicca, or impermanence, is one of the Three Marks of Existence in Buddhism — the truth that all conditioned phenomena are in constant flux, arising and passing away without exception. Deep contemplation of impermanence dissolves attachment and clinging, directing the practitioner toward liberation.
wúwǒ · Anātman (Pali: Anattā)
Non-self
Anatta, or non-self, is one of the Three Marks of Existence — the teaching that no fixed, permanent self can be found in any phenomenon. Mahayana Buddhism extends this to both personal non-self and the non-self of all phenomena, making it the heart of the doctrine of sunyata (emptiness).
chán / cháng dìng · Dhyāna
Meditation / Meditative Absorption
Dhyana is the Buddhist meditative practice of cultivating mental stillness and clear awareness through sustained concentration and insight. Progressing through four stages of absorption, dhyana purifies the mind and develops the wisdom necessary for awakening — and gave rise to the Chan (Zen) tradition.
bùshī · Dāna
Generosity / Giving
Dana is the first of the six paramitas (perfections) in Mahayana Buddhism, comprising material giving, the gift of Dharma teachings, and the gift of fearlessness. Practicing generosity counters greed, generates merit, and is a foundational virtue of the bodhisattva path.
chí jiè · Śīla
Moral Discipline / Ethics
Sila is the second paramita — the practice of moral discipline through adherence to the Buddha's ethical precepts, restraining harmful actions of body, speech, and mind. Sila is the foundation for meditation (samadhi), which in turn supports wisdom (prajna): the three trainings are inseparable.
zhēnyán / zhòu · Mantra
Sacred Utterance
A mantra is a sacred syllable or phrase in Buddhist tantric traditions, believed to embody the enlightened qualities of a particular deity or buddha. Through repeated recitation, practitioners align with those qualities. The Great Compassion Mantra and the six-syllable Om Mani Padme Hum are among the most widely chanted.
gòngyǎng · Pūjā
Worship / Devotion
Puja is the Buddhist practice of offering devotional worship to the Buddha, bodhisattvas, or the Three Jewels through offerings of incense, flowers, candles, fruit, and other gifts. Beyond ritual form, puja cultivates reverence and reduces pride — offerings made with sincere heart generate boundless merit.
lǐbài · Vandana
Prostration / Bowing
Prostration is the Buddhist practice of full-body bowing to the Buddha, bodhisattvas, or the Three Jewels as an act of reverence and humility. By physically lowering oneself, prostration dissolves pride and deepens devotion — each bow is said to purify negative karma and accumulate merit.
qiúqiān
Fortune Divination / Lot Drawing
Qiuqian is a traditional Chinese Buddhist and folk religious practice of drawing a numbered lot from a bamboo cup before an altar to receive guidance from a bodhisattva or deity. The drawn lot corresponds to a verse of poetry that is interpreted as the divine response to the petitioner's question.
jiǎobēi
Moon Block Divination
Jiaobei are crescent-shaped wooden or bamboo divination blocks used in Chinese Buddhist and Daoist temples to communicate with deities. When dropped, the combination of face-up and face-down positions of the two pieces — known as a 'holy cup,' 'yin cup,' or 'no cup' — conveys the deity's response.
Guānshìyīn Púsà · Avalokiteśvara
Bodhisattva of Compassion
Guanyin — Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit — is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, one of the most beloved figures in Mahayana Buddhism. Guanyin hears the cries of all suffering beings and manifests in 33 forms to deliver them. In Chinese Buddhism, Guanyin is venerated primarily in female form and is the presiding bodhisattva of Cihang.
Āmítuó Fó · Amitābha
Buddha of Infinite Light
Amitabha is the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life, the central figure of Pure Land Buddhism. Through forty-eight great vows made in a past life, Amitabha vowed to receive all beings into his Pure Land (Sukhavati). Reciting 'Namo Amituofo' is regarded as a supremely accessible path to liberation.
Shìjiāmóuní Fó · Śākyamuni Buddha
The Historical Buddha
Sakyamuni Buddha — the Sage of the Sakya clan, born Siddhartha Gautama around 563 BCE in Lumbini — is the historical founder of Buddhism. After renouncing his royal life and six years of austere practice, he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya and spent 45 years teaching the Dharma before his final nirvana.
púsà · Bodhisattva
Enlightenment Being
A bodhisattva — 'enlightenment being' in Sanskrit — is a Mahayana Buddhist practitioner who has generated bodhicitta (the aspiration to achieve buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings). Rather than seeking personal liberation alone, bodhisattvas dedicate countless lifetimes to practicing the six paramitas for the liberation of all.
āluóhàn · Arhat (Pali: Arahant)
Perfected One
An arhat is one who has attained the highest stage of liberation in Theravada Buddhism — having eradicated all defilements and broken free from the cycle of rebirth. Mahayana Buddhism regards the arhat ideal as incomplete, holding that full buddhahood achieved for the benefit of all beings is the supreme goal.
sēngqié · Saṃgha
Buddhist Community
Sangha is one of the Three Jewels of Buddhism — the community of practitioners that includes both the ordained monastic community (monks and nuns) and lay practitioners. The sangha is the living vessel through which the Dharma is transmitted, practiced, and sustained across generations.
jīng · Sūtra
Buddhist Scripture
A sutra is a scripture of the Buddhist canon recording the Buddha's direct teachings, forming one of the Three Baskets (Tripitaka) alongside the Vinaya and Abhidharma. Chinese Buddhism preserves a vast translated canon spanning Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana traditions. Every sutra opens with 'Thus have I heard,' certifying its origin in the Buddha's spoken word.
Bōrě Bōluómìduō Xīnjīng · Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra
Heart Sutra
The Heart Sutra is the condensed essence of the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) literature — 260 Chinese characters distilling the entirety of emptiness teachings. Spoken by Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), it reveals that the five aggregates are empty of inherent existence, and is among the most widely recited texts in Chinese Buddhist daily practice.
Dàbēi Zhòu · Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī
Great Compassion Dharani
The Great Compassion Mantra — the Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī — is the root dharani of Guanyin Bodhisattva, consisting of 84 lines. It is one of the most widely chanted dharanis in Chinese Buddhism, recited for protection, healing, and the purification of negative karma, and as a means of aligning with Guanyin's vow of great compassion.
Bā Zhèng Dào · Āryāṣṭāṅgamārga
Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path is the practical course to liberation taught by the Buddha in his first discourse — the fourth of the Four Noble Truths. Its eight factors — right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration — encompass the three trainings of ethics, meditation, and wisdom.
Wǔ Jiè · Pañcaśīla
Five Ethical Precepts
The Five Precepts are the foundational ethical guidelines for lay Buddhist practitioners: refraining from taking life, from stealing, from sexual misconduct, from false speech, and from intoxicants. Observing the five precepts protects practitioners from generating negative karma, supports social harmony, and secures fortunate rebirth.
Sì Shèng Dì · Catvāri Āryasatyāni
Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths are the foundational teaching of the Buddha, delivered in his very first discourse at Deer Park. They diagnose the human condition and prescribe the cure: the truth of suffering (dukkha), the truth of its origin in craving and ignorance, the truth that suffering can cease (nirvana), and the truth of the path that leads to its cessation (the Eightfold Path).
This glossary presents essential Buddhist terms bilingually for study and reference.