Pali formulas and sentences

[David N. Snyder]

Adukkha-m-asukhā vedanā

'feeling which is neither painful nor pleasant', i.e. neutral or indifferent feeling

[David N. Snyder]

Ādīnavānupassanā-ñāna

'knowledge consisting in contemplation of danger', is one of the 8 kinds of insight vipassanā that form the 'purification of the knowledge and vision of the path-progress see: visuddhi VI. 4. It is further one of the 18 chief kinds of insight

[David N. Snyder]

Adhisīla-sikkhā

'training in higher morality'

[David N. Snyder]

Adhipati-paccaya

'Predominance-condition' is one of the 24 conditions paccaya, if developed, it is considered as the fourfold road to force

[David N. Snyder]

Adhipaññā-dhamma-vipassanā

'insight into things based on higher understanding', is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight

[David N. Snyder]

Abhidhamma Pitaka

Higher Dhamma, pertaining to dhammas, basket of the Tipitaka

It is made up of seven books – the Dhammasaïgani, the Vibhaïga, the Dhàtukathà, the Puggalapa¤¤atti, the Kathàvatthu, the Yamaka and the Paññhàna. An eighth book called the Mahàdhammahadaya has been lost.

* Dhammasangani ("Enumeration of Phenomena"). This book enumerates all the paramattha dhamma (ultimate realities) to be found in the world.
* Vibhanga ("The Book of Treatises"). This book continues the analysis of the Dhammasangani, here in the form of a catechism.
* Dhatukatha ("Discussion with Reference to the Elements"). A reiteration of the foregoing, in the form of questions and answers.
* Puggalapannatti ("Description of Individuals"). Somewhat out of place in the Abhidhamma Pitaka, this book contains descriptions of a number of personality-types.
* Kathavatthu ("Points of Controversy"). Another odd inclusion in the Abhidhamma, this book contains questions and answers that were compiled by Moggaliputta Tissa in the 3rd century BCE, in order to help clarify points of controversy that existed between the various early schools of Buddhism at the time.
* Yamaka ("The Book of Pairs"). This book is a logical analysis of many concepts presented in the earlier books. In the words of Mrs. Rhys Davids, an eminent 20th century Pali scholar, the ten chapters of the Yamaka amount to little more than "ten valleys of dry bones."
* Patthana ("The Book of Relations"). This book, by far the longest single volume in the Tipitaka (over 6,000 pages long in the Siamese edition), describes the 24 paccayas, or laws of conditionality, through which the dhammas interact. These laws, when applied in every possible permutation with the dhammas described in the Dhammasangani, give rise to all knowable experience.

[David N. Snyder]

Evaṃ me sutaṃ

Thus, have I heard (the opening line in many Suttas, as Ananda recited at the First Council)

[David N. Snyder]

Evaṃ (thus)

me (I)

sutaṃ (have heard)

Evaṃ is always "thus" but apparently the other terms become "I" and "have heard" in this context.