..续本文上一页hem be as they truly are, in line with their own inherent nature: This is the disbanding of stress.

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　　Glossary

　　Apaya: States of deprivation, i.e., the four lower realms of existence: rebirth in hell, as a hungry ghost, as an angry demon, or as a common animal. In Buddhism, none of these states are regarded as eternal conditions.

　　Arahant: A "worthy one" or "pure one," i.e., a person whose heart no longer has any defilements and is thus not destined for further rebirth. A title for the Buddha and the highest level of his Noble Disciples.

　　Ariyadhana: "Noble Wealth," i.e., qualities that serve as "capital" in the quest for liberation: conviction, virtue, conscience, fear of evil, erudition, generosity, and discernment.

　　Ayatana: Sense media, i.e., the six senses (the five physical senses plus the intellect) and their corresponding objects.

　　Bhavanga (-pada, -citta): The mind”s underlying preoccupation or resting state, which determines its state of being and to which it reverts in between its responses to stimuli.

　　Brahma: An inhabitant of the higher heavens (of form and formlessness), a position earned — but not forever — through the cultivation of virtue and meditative absorption (jhana), along with the attitudes of limitless love, compassion, appreciation, and equanimity.

　　Dhamma: Event; phenomenon; the way things are in and of themselves; quality — both in its neutral and in its positive senses: (1) the basic qualities into which natural phenomena — mental and physical — can be analyzed; the terms in which things are known by the sense of ideation. Also, any teaching that analyzes phenomena into their basic terms. This is one sense in which the Buddha”s doctrine is his "Dhamma." (2) The quality of one”s heart and mind, as manifest by the rectitude, fairness, compassion, composure, discernment, etc., revealed in one”s actions. The manifestations can be enumerated and prescribed as principles (again, "dhamma" — another sense in which the Buddha”s doctrine is his Dhamma) that can then be put into practice and developed as means of removing shoddiness from the heart so that its genuine, unchanging quality can become fully apparent from within: This is the Buddha”s Dhamma in its ultimate sense.

　　Dhatu: Element, property, potential. Basic forces that, when aroused out of their latent state, cause activity on the physical or psychological level. In traditional Thai physics, which is based on the physics of the Pali Canon, the four dhatu of earth, water, fire, and wind are said to permeate all matter in latent or potential form. To become manifest, they have to be aroused. Thus, for example, the act of starting a fire is explained as the arousal of the fire-dhatu (tejas), which already exists in the air and in the object to be ignited. Once this is "seized," it clings to the fuel, and the object will be on fire. The fire will continue burning as long as tejas has sustenance to cling to. When it runs out of sustenance or is forced to let go, it will grow quiet — returning to its normal, latent state — and the inpidual fire will go out.

　　On the level of the human body, diseases are explained as resulting from the aggravation or imbalance of any of these four physical properties. Diseases are classified by how they feel: Fevers are attributed to the fire property, dizziness and faintness to the wind property, constipation to the earth property, etc. Well-being is defined as a state in which none of these properties is dominant. All are quiet, unaroused, balanced and still.

　　There are a number of lists of dhatus given in the Pali Canon. The six dhatus are the four physical properties plus space and consciousness. The 18 dhatus are the six senses, their respect…

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