Pali word of the day

[DNS]

Mudita

  ...sympathetic joy, altruistic joy, appreciative joy
      – it is the congratulatory attitude of a person

  Its chief characteristic is happy acquiescence in others’ prosperity
  and success. It is one of the four Sublime Abodes of Conduct
  (Brahma Vihàras). The other three are Mettà, Karuõà and
  Upekkhà.
     By rejoicing in the skillful action and merits of others, one
  tends to eradicate the jealousy (issà) which would lead to un-
  wholesome deeds through action, speech and thoughts. The prac-
  tice of mudità demands great personal effort and strong will
  power.
     The development of mudità requires systematic evaluation,
  Right Understanding and moderation. Hence, one should always
  be mindful of its near enemy, which is laughter, merriment,
  excitableness and exhilaration, while its far enemy is jealousy and
  envy.
     Mudità is like a mother’s joy over the success and youthfulness
  of her child. A Buddhist practising mudità will happily say,
  “Sàdhu! Sàdhu! Sàdhu!” which means well done or excellent, to
  rejoice in the merits of others.
                                  (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

kamma

  ...actions performed with intention
     or conscious motive

  The Law of Kamma – the law of cause and effect, action and the
  appropriate result of action.
     All our actions fit into three classifications: namely thought
  (mental action), speech (verbal action) and body (physical
  action). Therefore, in order for these actions to become kamma,
  they must be associated with cetanà (volition) or intention. Thus
  kamma can be kusala (wholesome) or akusala (unwholesome).
     Kamma is not a doctrine of pre-determination. The past influ-
  ences the present but does not dominate it. The past and present
  influence the future.
     The result of Kamma is called Vipàka (consequence) or Phala
  (fruition). And this leads to another better-known fundamental
  teachings of the Buddha – the doctrine of Rebirth.
     Kamma is the chief cause of all the inequalities in the world,
  yet not everything is due to these past actions. The simple expla-
  nation of how Kamma works is: good begets good; bad begets
  bad; good and bad begets good and bad; neither good nor bad
  begets neither good nor bad.
                                (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

mitta

  ...friend, companion
  Kalyāna Mitta – Spiritual friends and friendship.

     The purpose of friendship is to grow mutually, to improve spir-
  ituality in faith (saddhà), generosity (càga), virtue (sãla), know-
  ledge and wisdom (paññà).
     It is the forerunner of goodness in life such as happiness,
  wealth, opportunity, etc. It is the supporting condition for the
  growth of all goodness.
     A real friend is a friend who helps when in need, who shares
  the same weal and woes with you, who gives good counsel and
  who sympathizes.
     An enemy disguised as a friend is one who associates for gain
  (a taker), who render lips services (a talker), who flatters (a flat-
  terer) and who brings ruin to your wealth (a spender).
     The qualities of a good friend are, one who...
  1. gives what is hard to give (dàna)
  2. does what is hard to do
  3. hears what is hard to hear or bear
  4. confesses (shares) his, or her, own secret with you
  5. keeps others’ secrets
  6. in need, forsakes one not
  7. despises one not when one is ruined.
                                 (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

karuna

  ...compassion, harmless, willing to bear
     the pain of others

  Karunà should be practiced with wisdom (paññà). It is a thought
  of peace and harmlessness meant to reduce the pain of other fel-
  low beings that are not so fortunate compared to oneself.
     At the height of this practice, one might even go to the extent
  of sacrificing one’s own life to alleviate the suffering of others. It
  has the characteristic of a loving mother whose thoughts, words
  and deeds always tend to release the distress of her sick child.
     The purpose of Karunà is to help eliminate the element of cruel-
  ty. The cultivation of Karunà is not just talking – action counts
  also. Compassion is the motivating factor for the making of a
  Bodhisatta Vow.
     One must be able to identify the feelings of emotional upset
  caused by the suffering of others as being pity or grief, and not
  karuõà. Karunà, like the other three virtues in the Brahma
  Vihàras, is a positive mental quality.
                                 (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

METTĀ

...loving-kindness, divine love,
active good will

It is also a warm and friendly feeling of good will and concern for
the well being and happiness of one self and others. It is a prac-
tice of positive mental qualities to overcome anger (dosa), ill will,
hatred and aversion.
Just as a mother will protect her only child, even at the risk of
her life, even so one should cultivate boundless love towards all
living beings.
Metta should be radiated in equal measure towards oneself,
and to friends, enemies and neutral persons, regardless of their
strength and size, whether they are seen or unseen, whether they
dwell far away or near.
The culmination of this metta is the identification of oneself
with all beings, making no difference between oneself and others
thus the so-called “I” does not exist.
Metta is neither passionate love (pema) nor desire to possess
(want). It is above the normal human love of caring, trust and
respect. It is universal and limitless in its scope.
Metta possesses a magnetic power that can produce a good
influence on others even at a distance.
(from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

And to complete the 4 Brahma Viharas (since this one is not in the Pali Word a Day booklet):

Upekkha

Equanimity

It is the quality of being emotionally calm, balanced and even, especially when confronted with difficult situations. Sometimes it is also called equipoise (susamàhita) or being centred (majjhatta). Equanimity is the last of the four Brahma Viharas, one of the different ways love can express itself. It is also mentioned as one of the ten paramitas.

It can be difficult, impossible even, to feel warm friendly regard to someone who has hurt us or who is unapologetically evil. The way we can express love to such a person is by remaining calm, unmoved and free from hatred. From this stance it will be much easier to open up to that person when we have developed our love more strongly. Equanimity is also a skilful way to respond to the many temptations, provocations and sensual impressions that assail us every day. It will allow us to keep our sense of balance and, as the Buddha said, ‘walk evenly over the uneven’ (S.I,4).

Sometimes equanimity is confused with indifference although it is actually easy to distinguish the two. If we remain calm and unmoved because we understand that excitement or agitation is inappropriate, unjustified or unhelpful, this can be called equanimity. If we remain unmoved and uninvolved because we cannot be bothered or because we simply do not care this can be called indifference. Equanimity grows out of knowledge, indifference out of ignorance or selfishness.

[DNS]

KATHINA
  .
  ...hard, firm, unshakeable, Robe and the
  Robe Of fering Ceremony (according to the
  Vinaya commentary)
  Every year the Buddhist monks will observe their Vassa (rainy
  season retreat) for about three months. During this retreat, the
  monks go into intensive meditation practice.
     At the end of the vassa, they are allowed to receive a new robe,
  or a piece of cloth for making a robe, from lay devotees. The
  Kañhina Robe is made of several pieces of cloth sewn together in
  the pattern of paddy fields and looks like a rag robe.
  The Kañhina ceremony has to be celebrated within a month after
  the vassa in the Sima Hall in the Monastery or Temple where
  they dwelt during the vassa. There will be only one Kañhina Robe
  offered to the monk who spent the retreat according to the rules
  (selected by the community of monks in that Temple).
  The offering of the Kañhina Robe is considered a very meritorious
  deed, because the merit accrued is as “hard” (Kañhina) as a dia-
  mond. The donors may go anywhere without fear, eat anything
  without danger, their belongings are safe from flood, fire and
  thieves, and they are liable to receive many clothes and own many
  possessions.
                                  (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

Loka

  ...world, realms
  There are 31 states of existence into which beings are born,
  according to their kamma.

     Basically they are divided into 3 groups of bhava (becoming,
  or state of existence)
  1. Kàmabhava (sensual world, plane of desire)
       a) The 4 Apàya-bhåmi (plane of misery) or lower world:
            Niraya (hells), Tiracchàna-yoni (animal realm), Peta-
            yoni (hungry ghosts realm) and Asura-yoni (demon
            world).
       b) 7 Kàmasugati-bhåmi (happy states): Manussa (human
            realm); Càtummahàràjika, Tàvatiriüsa, Yàma, Tusita,
            Nimmànarati, Paranimmitavasavatti heavens (deva
            realms)
  2. Råpabhava (plan of form) or Brahmaloka
       Consist of 16 categories of distinction depending on the stage
       and intensity of the four stages of jhàna (a state of serene
       contemplation).
  3. Aråpabhava (formless plane)
       In the 4 highest realms there is only mind and no physical
       form.
                                 (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

akusala

Unwholesome, disadvantageous, are all those kammic intentions kamma-cetanā and all consciousness and mental properties associated therewith, which are accompanied either by greed lobha, hate dosa or confusion moha or derivatives thereof. All these mental states are causing disadvantageous kamma-results and contain the initiating seeds of unhappy & painful future, destiny and rebirth.

[DNS]

kusala

  ...wholesome, meritorious, righteous, a
     term used to describe acts whose kammic
     ef fect will assist the progress in mind-
     development, or to produce pleasant results

  A wholesome deed is an act:
  1. which does not harm either the doer or others
  2. which is praised and approved by the wise, and
  3. which when performed conduces to the benefit and
      happiness of both oneself and others
  Dasa Kusala Kamma (10 meritorious deeds)
  1. Danà (generosity)
  2. Sãla (virtue)
  3. Bhàvanã (mental culture-meditation)
  4. Apacayana (reverence, act of respect)
  5. Veyyàvacca (service, rendering help)
  6. Pattidàna (transference of merit)
  7. Pattànumodanà (rejoicing in others’ merit)
  8. Dhammasavaïa (listening to the doctrine)
  9. Dhammadesanà (teaching the doctrine,)
  10. Diññhijukamma (straightening one’s views) forming correct
      views, establishing right understanding
  Akusala (unwholesome) Kamma includes killing, stealing. un-
  chasteness, lying, slandering, harsh speech, frivolous talk, cov-
  etousness, ill will and false view.
                                  (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[Sekha]

very nice initiative Dave

This is a thread I'll follow keenly

[DNS]

very nice initiative Dave
This is a thread I'll follow keenly

Up to now, the words have probably been very easy, at least for most of us. But soon we will get to some more less commonly known Pali words.

[DNS]

Up to now, the words have probably been very easy, at least for most of us. But soon we will get to some more less commonly known Pali words.

And with the statement above, the next word:

Khanti

   ...patience, tolerance, endurance, forbearance
   It is the enduring of suffering caused by others or the forbearance
   of others’ wrongs.

       A person who practices patience will not allow the thought of
   revenge or retaliation to enter his mind when he is tested with
   anger. Instead he tries to put the wrongdoer on the path of Right-
   eousness and extends to him thoughts of love and compassion.
       To practice khanti, one should be able to control one’s temper
   through the right understanding of the real nature of life. By los-
   ing our temper, we are not only losing our peace, happiness,
   health, beauty, friendship and popularity, but also the ability to
   distinguish the good from the bad and the right from the wrong.
       The characteristic of khanti is acceptance and its function is to
   endure the desirable and the undesirable things. While the mani-
   festation of khanti is a non-oppositional character, the quality to
   achieve it is wisdom – the ability to see things as they really are.
   By understanding the three characteristics of life (anicca,
   dukkha, and anattà) and the law of Kamma, one will be able to
   manage one’s senses.
                                   (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

lobha

  ...greed, covetousness, a synonym of taïhà
      (craving, desire) and ràga (passion)

  Being the root cause of evil, it transforms itself into many faces.
  Hoarding – holding on without letting go, obsession with materi-
  al gain, miserliness, and yearning – desire to possess what others
  have, clinging to desirable objects of sense, etc.
     In a subtle form, thriftiness – a kind of reluctance to waste
  things – appears to have the element of lobha in its root. While
  the stronger one turns itself into grasping onto the mind object as
  sense desire.
     It has the function “to stick” and the manifestation of lobha is
  not giving up. The proximate cause is seeing the enjoyment in
  things that lead to bondage.
     Lobha can turn easily into dosa when one fails to get the desir-
  able object and thus creates all the possible akusala kamma
  (unwholesome deeds).
     One needs to learn how to be contented (santosa) and let go
  of sensual lust (kàma). One needs to watch out that clinging to
  rules and rituals will hinder one’s spiritual progress.
                                  (from A Pali Word a Day, BuddhaNet pdf)

[DNS]

alobha

Greedlessness; one of the 3 kammically advantageous roots (mūla).