Buddhist topics
Short, plain introductions to one idea at a time. Buddhist traditions explain the teachings in different ways, so each page links to sources you can read for yourself.
Key ideas
- Taking refuge
- The Dharma: the Buddha's teaching
- The eight worldly conditions
- The Four Noble Truths
- The ten perfections
- What are the five aggregates?
- What are the six realms?
- What are the three poisons?
- What is a bodhisattva?
- What is an arahant?
- What is anatta (not-self)?
- What is anicca (impermanence)?
- What is buddha-nature?
- What is craving (tanha)?
- What is dependent origination?
- What is dukkha?
- What is emptiness (sunyata)?
- What is enlightenment?
- What is karma?
- What is merit in Buddhism?
- What is nirvana?
- What is panna?
- What is rebirth in Buddhism?
- What is samsara?
- What is the Middle Way?
- What is the Sangha?
The Eightfold Path
- Right action
- Right concentration
- Right effort
- Right intention
- Right livelihood
- Right mindfulness
- Right speech
- Right view
- The Noble Eightfold Path
Ethics and precepts
- Keeping the precepts
- Precept on false speech
- Precept on intoxicants
- Precept on not killing
- Precept on not stealing
- Precept on sexual misconduct
- The eight precepts
- The five precepts
- What is dana?
- What is sila?
Meditation and the mind
- Four foundations of mindfulness
- Metta: loving-kindness
- Seven factors of awakening
- The five hindrances
- The four right efforts
- The four sublime states
- What is jhana?
- What is karuna?
- What is mindfulness?
- What is mudita?
- What is samadhi?
- What is samatha?
- What is upekkha?
- What is vipassana?
Practice at home
- A Buddhist shrine at home
- Bowing in Buddhism
- Buddhist chanting
- Buddhist practice at home
- Loving-kindness phrases
Texts
- The Dhammapada
- The Diamond Sutra
- The first discourse
- The Heart Sutra
- The Kālāma Sutta
- The Lotus Sutra
- The Mangala Sutta
- The Metta Sutta
- The Pali Canon
- The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
- The Vinaya
- The Ānāpānasati Sutta
- What is a sutta?
Festivals and observances
Traditions
- Buddhism in Australia
- Monks and nuns in Buddhism
- The Thai Forest Tradition
- What is Mahayana Buddhism?
- What is Nichiren Buddhism?
- What is Pure Land Buddhism?
- What is Theravada Buddhism?
- What is Tibetan Buddhism?
- What is Vajrayana Buddhism?
- What is Zen Buddhism?
People
- Who is Avalokiteśvara?
- Who is Maitreya?
- Who is the Buddha Amitābha?
- Who was Emperor Ashoka?
- Who was Mahāmoggallāna?
- Who was Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī?
- Who was Nāgārjuna?
- Who was Siddhartha Gautama?
- Who was Sāriputta?
- Who was Ānanda?
Symbols and places
- The Bodhi tree
- The Dharma wheel
- The lotus in Buddhism
- What is a mantra in Buddhism?
- What is a mudra?
- What is a stupa?
New to Buddhism? Learn the basics first, then come back to any topic.