AbhidharmaThe Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist sutras. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the field of knowledge that this method is said to study. Bhikkhu Bodhi calls it "an abstract and highly technical systemization of the [Buddhist] doctrine," which is "simultaneously a philosophy, a psychology and an ethics, all integrated into the framework of a program for liberation.
Pali CanonThe Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During the First Buddhist Council, three months after the parinibbana of Gautama Buddha in Rajgir, Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka, and Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka. The Arhats present accepted the recitations, and henceforth, the teachings were preserved orally by the Sangha.
KammaṭṭhānaIn Buddhism, is a Pali word (Sanskrit: karmasthana) which literally means place of work. Its original meaning was someone's occupation (farming, trading, cattle-tending, etc.) but this meaning has developed into several distinct but related usages all having to do with Buddhist meditation. Its most basic meaning is as a word for meditation, with meditation being the main occupation of Buddhist monks. In Burma, senior meditation practitioners are known as "kammatthanacariyas" (meditation masters).
Skandha(Sanskrit) or (Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are also explained as the five factors that constitute and explain a sentient being's person and personality, but this is a later interpretation in response to Sarvāstivādin essentialism. The 14th Dalai Lama subscribes to this interpretation.
AbhijñāAbhijñā (अभिज्ञा; Pali pronunciation: abhiññā; མངོན་ཤེས mngon shes; ) is a Buddhist term generally translated as "direct knowledge", "higher knowledge" or "supernormal knowledge." In Buddhism, such special knowledge is obtained through virtuous living and meditation. The attainment of the four jhanas, or meditative absorptions, are considered a prerequisite for their attainment. In terms of specifically enumerated knowledges, these include mundane extra-sensory abilities (such as seeing past lives and various supranormal powers like levitation) as well as the supramundane, meaning the extinction of all mental intoxicants (āsava).
PaṭṭhānaThe Paṭṭhāna (Pali: , Sanskrit: , Jñāna-prasthāna, Mahā-Pakaraṇa, Paṭṭhāna-Pakaraṇa, "Book of Causal Relationships") is a Buddhist scripture. It is the seventh and final text of the Abhidhamma Pitaka ("Basket of Higher Doctrine"), which is one of the "Three Baskets" of canonical Theravada Buddhist texts collectively known as the Pali Canon. The Paṭṭhāna consists of three divisions (Eka, Duka, and Tīka).
Pre-sectarian BuddhismPre-sectarian Buddhism, also called early Buddhism, the earliest Buddhism, original Buddhism, and primitive Buddhism, is Buddhism as theorized to have existed before the various Early Buddhist schools developed, around 250 BCE (followed by later subsects of Buddhism). The contents and teachings of this pre-sectarian Buddhism must be deduced or re-constructed from the earliest Buddhist texts, which by themselves are already sectarian. The whole subject remains intensely debated by scholars, not all of whom believe a meaningful reconstruction is possible.
BuddhavaṃsaThe Buddhavaṃsa (also known as the Chronicle of Buddhas) is a hagiographical Buddhist text which describes the life of Gautama Buddha and of the twenty-four Buddhas who preceded him and prophesied his attainment of Buddhahood. It is the fourteenth book of the Khuddaka Nikāya, which in turn is the fifth and last division of the Sutta Piṭaka. The Sutta Piṭaka is one of three pitakas (main sections) which together constitute the Tripiṭaka, or Pāli Canon of Theravāda Buddhism.
NettipakaraṇaThe Nettipakaraṇa (Pali, also called Nettippakarana, abbreviated Netti) is a mythological Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of Theravada Buddhism's Pali Canon. The main theme of this text is Buddhist Hermeneutics through a systematization of the Buddha's teachings. It is regarded as canonical by the Burmese Theravada tradition, but isn't included in other Theravada canons. The nature of the Nettipakarana was a matter of some disagreement among scholars.
Abhidhammattha-sangahaThe Abhidhammattha-saṅgaha (The Compendium of Things contained in the Abhidhamma) is a Pali Buddhist instructional manual or compendium of the Abhidhamma of the Theravāda tradition. It was written by the Sri Lankan monk Ācariya Anuruddha some time between the 8th century and the 12th century. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Abhidhammattha-saṅgaha is one of the most important texts in the Theravāda Abhidhamma tradition and it provides such a "masterly summary" of the Abhidhamma that "has become the standard primer for Abhidhamma studies throughout the Theravāda Buddhist countries of South and Southeast Asia.