- Buddhist Dictionary
- Manual of Buddhist Terms
and Doctrines
by NYANATILOKA MAHATHERA
-T-
tadanga-pahána: 'ovcrcoming by the
opposite', is one of the 5 kinds of overcoming (pahána, q.v.).
tadárammana-citta: 'registering
consciousness' (s. Tab. I, 40-49, 56), is the last stage in the complete process of
cognition (citta-víthi) immediately before sinking into the subconscious. It does not
occur with the consciousness of the absorptions nor with supermundane consciousness, but
only with large or distinct objects of the sensuous sphere. Cf. viññána-kicca.
taints: ásava (q.v.).
talk, low: tiracchána-kathá
(q.v.).
tanhá: (lit. 'thirst'): 'craving',
is the chief root of suffering, and of the ever-continuing cycle of rebirths. "What,
o monks, is the origin of suffering? It is that craving which gives rise to ever-fresh
rebirth and, bound up with pleasure and lust, now here, now there, finds ever fresh
delight. It is the sensual craving (káma-tanhá), the craving for existence (bhava-tanhá),
the craving for non-existence (vibhava-tanhá)'' (D. 22). T. is the 8th
link in the formula of the dependent origination (paticcasamuppáda, q.v.). Cf. sacca.
Corresponding to the 6 sense-objects,
there are 6 kinds of craving craving for visible objects, for sounds, odours, tastes,
bodily impressions, mental impressions (rúpa-, sadda-, gandha-, rasa-, photthabba-,
dhamma-tanhá). (M. 9; D. 15)
Corresponding to the 3-fold existence,
there are 3 kinds: craving for sensual existence (káma-tanhá), for fine-material
existence (rúpa-tanhá), for immaterial existence (arúpa-tanhá). (D. 33)
There are 18 'thought-channels of craving'
(tanhá-vicarita) induced internally, and 18 induced externally; and as occurring
in past, present and future, they total 108; see A. IV, 199; Vibh., Ch. 17
(Khuddakavatthu-Vibhanga).
According to the dependent origination,
craving is conditioned by feeling; on this see D. 22 (section on the 2nd Truth).
Of craving for existence (bhava-tanhá
) it is said (A. X, 62): "No first beginning of the craving for existence can be
perceived, o monks, before which it was not and after which it came to be. But it can he
perceived that craving for existence has its specific condition. I say, o monks, that also
craving for existence has its condition that feeds it (sáharam) and is not without
it. And what is it? 'Ignorance', one has to reply." - Craving for existence and
ignorance are called "the outstanding causes that lead to happy and unhappy destinies
(courses of existence)" (s. Vis.M. XVII, 36-42).
The most frequent synonyms of tanhá
are rága (q.v.) and lobha (s. múla).
tanhá-kkhaya: 'extinction of
craving', is identical with 'extinction of cankers' (ásavakkhaya) and the
attainment of perfect Holiness or Arahatship. Cf. ariya-puggala.
tanhá-nissita-síla: 'morality
based on craving' (s. nissaya).
tathágata: the 'Perfect One',
lit. the one who has 'thus gone', or 'thus come', is an epithet of the Buddha used by him
when speaking of himself.
To the often asked questions, whether the
Tathágata still exists after death, or not, it is said (e.g. S. XXII, 85, 86) that, in
the highest sense (paramattha, q.v.) the Tathágata cannot, even at lifetime, be
discovered, how much less after death, and that neither the 5 groups of existence (khandha,
q.v.) are to be regarded as the Tathágata, nor can the Tathágata be found outside these
corporeal and mental phenomena. The meaning intended here is that there exist only these
ever-changing corporeal and mental phenomena, arising and vanishing from moment to moment,
but no separate entity, no personality.
When the commentaries in this connection
explain Tathágata by 'living being' (satta), they mean to say that here the
questioners are using the merely conventional expression, Tathágata, in the sense of a
really existing entity.
Cf. anattá, paramattha, puggala,
jíva, satta.
A commentarial treatise
on "The Meaning of the Word 'Tathágata' " is included in The All-Embracing Net
of Views (Brahmajála Sutta), tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi (BPS).
tathágata-bala: the 'ten
powers of the Perfect One'; s. dasa-bala.
tathatá: 'Suchness',
designates the firmly fixed nature (bháva) of all things whatever. The only
passage in the Canon where the word occurs in this sense, is found in Kath. 186 (s. Guide,
p. 83). On the Maháyana term tathatá, s. Suzuki, Awakening of Faith, p. 53f.
(App.).
tatra-majjhattatá: 'equanimity,
equipoise, mental balance' (lit., 'remaining here and there in the middle'), is the name
for a high ethical quality belonging to the sankhára-kkhandha (s. khandha)
and is mostly known by the name upekkhá. In its widest sense it is associated with
all pure consciousness (s. Tab. II). "Tatra-majjhattatá is called the
'keeping in the middle of all things'. It has as charactcristic that it effects the
balance of consciousness and mental factors; as nature (function; rasa), that it
prevents excessiveness and deficiency, or that it puts an end to partiality; as
manifestation, that it keeps the proper middle" (Vis.M. XIV). (App.).
távatimsa: 'the Thirty-thrce
(Gods)', a class of heavenly beings in the sensuous sphere; s. deva (I).
te-cívarik'anga: 'practice of the
three-rober', is one of the ascetical means for purificaton (dhutanga, q.v.).
tejo-dhátu: 'fire-element,
heat-element'; s. dhátu.
tejo-kasina: 'fire-kasina', is one
of the 10 kasina exercises; s. kasina.
temperature: utu (q.v.). - For
corporeality produced by temperature, s. samutthána.
tendencies: anusaya (q.v.).
terror, awareness of: one of the
insight-knowledges; s. visuddhi VI. 3.
te-vijja: 'one endowed with the
threefold (higher) knowledge'. In Brahmanism means 'knower of the 3 Vedas' (
tri-vidyá), in Buddhism means one who has realised 3 kinds of knowledge, to wit:
remembrance of former rebirths, the divine eye, extinction of all cankers. For details, s.
abhiññá, 4-6. Cf. Tevijjá Sutta, D. 13 (WHEEL 57/58).
theraváda: 'Doctrine of the
Elders', is a name of the oldest form of the Buddha's teachings, handed down to us in the
Páli language. According to tradition, its name is derived from the fact of having been
fixed by 500 holy Elders of the Order, soon after the death of the Master.
Theraváda is the only one of the old
schools of Buddhism that has survived among those which Maháyánists have called
'Hinayána'. It is sometimes called Southern Buddhism or Páli Buddhism. It is found today
in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Chittagong (East Bengal. ) - Cf. Guide,
p. 60. - (App.). thína-middha: 'sloth and torpor', constitute the 3rd of the 5
hindrances (nívarana, q.v.). They may or may not, be associated with greedy
consciousness (s. Tab. 23. 25, 27, 29 and II).
thinking, wisdom based on: cintámayapaññá:
s. paññá.
thiti-bhágiya-síla, -samádhi,
-paññá: 'static morality, static concentration, static wisdom'; s. hána-bhágiya-síla.
thought, thought-conception: s. vitakka.
thought, Right: sammá-sankappa;
.s. sacca, magga.
ties, the 4: gantha
(q.v.).
ti-hetu-patisandhika: s. patisandhi.
ti-lakkhana: the '3
charactcristies of existence', or signata, are impermanency (anicca, q.v.),
suffcring or misery (dukkha, q.v.; s. sacca, dukkhatá), not-self (anattá,
q.v.).
"Whether Perfect Ones appear in the
world, or whether Perfect Ones do not appear in the world, it still remains a firm
condition, an immutable fact and fixed law: that all formations are impermanent, that all
formations are subject to suffering, that everything is without a self'' (A. III, 134).
"What do you think, o monks: Is
corporeality (rúpa) permanent or impermanent? - Impermanent, o Venerable One. -
Are feeling (vedaná), perception (saññá), mental formations (sankhára)
and consciousness (viññána), permanent or impermanent? - Impermanent, o
Venerable One.
"But that which is impermanent, is it
something pleasant or painful? - It is painful, o Venerable One.
"But, of what is impermanent, painful
and subject to change, could it be rightly said, 'This belongs to me, this am I, this is
my ego'? - No, Venerable One.
"'I'herefore, whatever there is of
corporeality, feeling, perception, mental formations and consciousness, whether past,
present or future, one's own or external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, of
all these things one should understand, according to reality and true wisdom: 'This does
not belong to me, this am I not, this is not my ego' " (S. XXII, 59).
"In one who understands eye, ear,
nose, tongue, body and all the remaining formations as impermanent, painful and not-self,
in him the fetters (samyojana, q.v.) are dissolved" (S. XXXV, 53).
It is the full comprehension of the 3
characteristics by direct meditative experience which constitutes liberating insight.
About their relation to the three gateways ot liberation', s. vimokkha I .
For further details, s. anicca, dukkha,
anattá, vipassaná.
Literature: The Three
Signata, by Prof. O. H. de A. Wijesekera (WHEEL 20). - The Three Basic Facts of Existence:
I-III (WHEEL BPS), Vis.M. XX, 13ff. 18ff; XXI, 47f, 67f.
ti-pitaka: ' T he Three
Bascets', is the name for the 3 main divisions of the Páli Canon: the Basket of
Discipline (Vinaya Pitaka), the Basket of Discourses (Sutta Pitaka) and the Basket ot
Philosophy (Abhidhamma Pitaka).
tiracchána-kathá: 'low talk',
lit. 'beastly talk', is the name in the sutta-texts for the following: "Talk about
kings and robbers, ministers and armies, danger and war, eating and drinking, clothes and
dwellings, garlands and scents, relations, chariots, villages and markets, towns and
districts, women and heroes, street talks, talks by the well, talk about those departed in
days gone by, tittle-tattle, talks about world and sea, about gain and loss" (A.X, 69
etc.).
In the commentaries 4 further kinds are
enumerated, thus bringing the number to 32, as mostly counted, namely: talk about sensuous
enjoyment, self-mortification, eternity and self-annihilation.
tiracchána-yoni: 'animal womb';
birth as animal. The animal kingdom belongs to the sensuous world (s. loka), is one
of the 4 lower worlds (s. apáya) and one of the 3 woeful courses of existence (s. gati).
tírana-pariññá: 'full
understanding by investigating'; s. pariññá.
ti-ratana: 'Three Jewels' or
Three Gems, which by all Buddhists are revered as the most venerable things, are the
Buddha, the Dhamma and the Holy Sangha.' i.e.: the Enlightened One; the law of deliverance
discovered, realized and proclaimed by him; and the Community of Holy Disciples and those
who live in accordance with the Law. - The contemplations of the 3 Jewels belong to the 10
contemplations (anussati q.v.).
ti-sarana: 'Threefold Refuge', in
which every faithful adherent of the Buddha puts his whole trust, consists in the Buddha,
the Dhamma and the Sangha (s. prec.).
The Buddha, or Enlightened One, is the
teacher who by himself has discovered, realized and proclaimed to the world the law of
deliverance. The Dhamma is the law of deliverance. The Sangha is the community of the
disciples, who have realized or are striving to realize the law of deliverance.
The 3-fold Refuge in Páli, by the
uttering of which one may also outwardly profess one's faith, is still the same as in the
Buddha's time, namely:
Buddham saranam gacchámi
Dhammam saranam gacchámi
Sangham saranam gacchámi
I take my refuge in the Buddha!
I take my refuge in the Dhamma!
I take my refuge in the Sangha!
Literature: The Threefold
Refuge by Nyanaponika Thera (WHEEL 76). - Devotion in Buddhism (WHEEL 18). Going for
Refuge, by Bhikkhu Bodhi (WHEEL 282/284) - Khp. Tr. pp. 4ff.
tittháyatana: the 3
'articles of (heretical) belief'. which in A. III, 61 are declared as leading to
inactivity, are: (1) the belief that all happiness and woe are produced through former
karma (prenatal actions; s. karma); (2) that everything is uncaused; (3) that everything
is created by God.
(1) is the teaching of
Niggantha-Náthaputta, the leader of the Nigganthas, the modern Jains. The fault with this
doctrine is that it does not account for that happiness and woe which either are the
result of the present life's good or bad action, or are associated with the corresponding
action. (2) is the doctrine of Makkhali Gosála; s. ditthi.
According to the above 3 doctrines, man is
not responsible for his actions, so that all moral exertions become useless.
torpor: thína, s. thína-middha
(q.v.).
training, the 3-fold: sikkhá
(q.v.). - The steps of: sikkhápada, (q.v.).
trance: jhána (q.v.).
tranquillity (of mind): s. samatha,
samatha-vipassaná, bhávaná, bojjhanga. - 'One who has taken t. as his
vehicle': samathayánika (q.v.).
tranquilisation, Overcoming (of
defilements) by way of: s. pahána.
transference of merit: patti-dána
(q.v.).
transformation, power of: s. iddhi.
transitoriness: anicca
(q.v.).
treasures, the 7: s. dhana
(q.v.).
tree: Living under a tree is one of
the ascetical practices (dhutanga, q.v.).
truths, the 4 Noble: sacca
(q.v.). - 2-fold knowledge of the t.; s. saccañána.
turning away, contemplation of
the: vivattanupassaná; s. vipassaná.
tusita: a class of heavenly
beings in the sensuous plane; s. deva (1).
twin miracle: yamaka-pátiháriya
(q.v.).