The term " bodhisatta " ( Pāli language ) was used by the Buddha in the Pāli canon to refer to himself both in his previous lives and as a young man in his current life, prior to his enlightenment, in the period during which he was working towards his own liberation.

In the Pāli canon, the bodhisatta Siddhartha Gotama is described thus:

While Maitreya ( Pāli: Metteya ) is mentioned in the Pāli canon, he is not referred to as a bodhisattva, but simply the next fully awakened Buddha to come into existence long after the current teachings of the Buddha are lost.

Besides this, Prakrit appears in literature in the form of Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhists, Prakrit canon of the Jains, Prakrit grammars and in lyrics, plays and epics of the times.

The Suñña Sutta, part of the Pāli canon, relates that the monk Ānanda, Buddha's attendant asked,

John W. Pettit, while stating, " Mahayana has not got a strong historical claim for representing the explicit teachings of the historical Buddha ", also argues that the basic concepts of Mahāyāna do occur in the Pāli canon and that this suggests that Mahāyāna is " not simply an accretion of fabricated doctrines " but " has a strong connection with the teachings of Buddha himself ".

The different schools in Theravāda often emphasize different aspects ( or parts ) of the Pāli canon and the later commentaries, or differ in the focus on and recommended way of practice.

The Pāli canon remains the most complete set of surviving Nikāya scriptures, although the greater part of the Sarvāstivādin canon also survives in Chinese translation, some parts exist in Tibetan translations, and some fragments exist in Sanskrit manuscripts, while parts of various canons ( sometimes unidentified ), exist in Chinese and fragments in other Indian dialects.

Among them are a number of āgama texts ( i. e., non-Mahāyāna sūtras corresponding to scriptures found in the sutta section of the Pāli canon ), didactic verses ( including a version of the Dharmapada and of the * Arthapada, corresponding to the Pāli Aṭṭhakavagga ), a biography of the Buddha, and several Mahāyāna sūtras, of which some of the most famous are the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha ( dealing with the Pure Land of Amitābha ), the Shorter Perfection of Wisdom scripture ( corresponding to the Sanskrit Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā ), and an early version of what subsequently became the Buddhāvataṃsaka.

He notes that there are several other references in the early Pāli canon that seem to indicate the presence of devotees of Siva, Kali, and other divinities associated with sanguinary tantric practices, and that Angulimala's behaviour would not be inconsistent with certain violent practices that were observed in India by Thuggee-like transgressive cults into recent times.

In the Discourse on Mindfulness ( Pāli: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta ) located within the Majjhima Nikāya of the Pāli canon, Buddha is rendered as foregrounding " mindfulness " or the enduring presence of the immediacy of experience and a foundational practice to Buddhist spiritual discipline and a preliminary to śamatha and vipaśyanā.

In Buddhism, karma ( Pāli kamma ) is strictly distinguished from vipāka, meaning " fruit " or " result ".

Karma is categorized within the group or groups of cause ( Pāli hetu ) in the chain of cause and effect, where it comprises the elements of " volitional activities " ( Pali sankhara ) and " action " ( Pali bhava ).

Any action is understood to create " seeds " in the mind that sprout into the appropriate results ( Pāli vipaka ) when they meet the right conditions.

In contrast to most of the figures depicted in the Pāli Canon, Ananda is presented as an imperfect, if sympathetic, figure.

Ahimsa (; IAST:, Pāli: ) is a term meaning to do no harm ( literally: the avoidance of violence – himsa ).

Unlike in Hindu and Jain sources, in ancient Buddhist texts ahimsa ( or its Pāli cognate ) is not used as a technical term.

This tension is best exhibited in the Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta ( Digha Nikaya 26 of the Sutta Pitaka of the Pāli Canon ), the story of humanity's decline from a golden age in the past.

Dukkha ( Pāli ; Sanskrit: ; Tibetan phonetic: dukngal ) is a Buddhist term commonly translated as " suffering ", " stress ", " anxiety ", or " dissatisfaction ".

From the Atharvaveda and in Classical Sanskrit, the stem is thematic, ( Devanāgarī: धर ् म ), and in Pāli, it takes the form dhamma.

Hīnayāna ( ह ी नय ा न ) is a Sanskrit and Pāli term literally meaning: the " Inferior Vehicle ", " Deficient Vehicle ", the " Abandoned Vehicle ", or the " Defective Vehicle ".

In Buddhism, karma ( Pāli kamma ) is strictly distinguished from vipāka, meaning " fruit " or " result ".

Karma is categorized within the group or groups of cause ( Pāli hetu ) in the chain of cause and effect, where it comprises the elements of " volitional activities " ( Pali sankhara ) and " action " ( Pali bhava ).

Any action is understood as creating " seeds " in the mind that will sprout into the appropriate result ( Pāli vipaka ) when met with the right conditions.

Nirvāṇa is not a concrete place, such as a heaven, but the antinomy of samsāra ( see below ) which itself is synonymous with ignorance ( avidyā, Pāli avijjā ):

In the Pāli and Chinese canons, it is explained thus:

There is no word corresponding exactly to the English terms " rebirth ", " metempsychosis ", " transmigration " or " reincarnation " in the traditional languages of Pāli and Sanskrit.

The actual process of change from one life to the next is called punarbhava ( Sanskrit ) or punabbhava ( Pāli ), literally " becoming again ", or more briefly bhava, " becoming ", and some English-speaking Buddhists prefer the term " rebirth " or " re-becoming " to render this term as they take " reincarnation " to imply a fixed entity that is reborn .< ref >" Reincarnation in Buddhism: What the Buddha Didn't Teach " By Barbara O ' Brien, About. com < sup > Popular Jain cosmology and Buddhist cosmology as well as a number of schools of Hinduism posit rebirth in many worlds and in varied forms.

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, there is also a distinctive vinaya and ethics for bodhisattvas contained within the Mahāyāna Brahmajala Sutra ( not to be confused with the Pāli text of that name ).

An Apsara ( Sanskrit: अप ् सर ाः, plural अप ् सरस ः, stem apsaras -, a feminine consonant stem, អប ្ សរ ា), is also known as Vidhya Dhari or Tep Apsar ( ទ េ ព ​ អប ្ សរ ) in Khmer, Accharā ( Pāli ) or A Bố Sa La Tư ( Vietnamese ), Bidadari ( Indonesian & Malay ), Biraddali ( Tausug ), Hapsari or Widodari ( Javanese ) and Apson ().

He writes that the three layers of the mind ( citta, manas, and vijñana ) as presented by Asaṅga are also mentioned in the Pāli Canon:

He writes that the three layers of the mind ( citta, manas, and vijñana ) as presented by Asaṅga are also mentioned in the Pāli Canon:

It also publishes ancillary works including dictionaries, concordances, books for students of Pāli and a journal.

( Sanskrit व ै श ् रवण ) or ( Pāli व े स ् सवण, Sinhala ව ෛ ශ ්‍ රවණ ) also known as Namtösé in Tibet and Bishamonten in Japan is the name of the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings and an important figure in Buddhist mythology.

is also known as Kubera ( Sanskrit ) or Kuvera ( Pāli ), and as Jambhala ( Sanskrit ).

Norman, Pāli could also be considered a form of BHS.

Dharmapala also became quite close to Madame Blavatsky, who advised him to study Pāli and to work for the good of humanity-which is what he did.

Scholars sometimes also point to the inclusion of some obviously later ( relatively new ) sections of the Kathavatthu in the Tipitaka as an indication that the Pāli Canon was more ' open ' than has sometimes been thought, and as illustrative of the process of codifying new texts as canonical.

Vassa ( from Pāli vasso, Sanskrit, both " rain "-, ; ;, sometimes ວ ັ ດສາ ;, phansaa ), also called Rains Retreat, or Buddhist Lent, is the three-month annual retreat observed by Theravada practitioners.

The term vohāra ( Pāli ; Sanskrit: vyavahāra, " common practice, convention, custom " is also used in more or less the same sense as samuti.

The Kālāma Sutta ( also known as the Kālām Sutta ; ; Kalama thoke ;, Kalama Sut, or Kesamutti Sutta ; Pāli: Kesamuttisuttaṃ ; Kethamotti thoke ), is a discourse of the Buddha contained in the Aṅguttara Nikaya of the Tipiṭaka.

*" permanence " or " eternalism " ( Pali: sassatavada ) also sometimes referred to as " the belief in being " ( Pāli: bhava-ditti ); and

*" annihilation " or " nihilism " ( Pāli: ucchadevada ) also sometimes referred to as " the belief in non-being " ( Pāli: vibhava-ditti ).

Pāli is also used in religious liturgy, despite the fact that most Thais understand very little of this ancient language.

The route of scholarship is also taken by monks who desire to rise in the ecclesiastic hierarchy, as promotions within the government-run system is contingent on passing examinations in Pāli and Dhamma studies.

They are also known as the four immeasurables ( Sanskrit: apramāṇa, Pāli: appamaññā ).

The Cūḷavaṃsa, also Chulavamsa, ( Pāli: " Lesser Chronicle ") is a historical record, written in the Pali language, of the monarchs of Sri Lanka.