In this new section, I hope to discuss essential material on Buddha Dhamma (Buddha’s teachings) that could help beginners and long-term readers. This section may help one understand deeper aspects in other sections of this website.
November 13, 2026
Buddha’s Teachings Are Preserved in the Tipiṭaka
1. The Buddha’s teachings have been preserved in the Tipiṭaka, written in Pāli with the Sinhala (or Sinhalese) alphabet some 2000 years ago.
- Sinhala is the language spoken in Sri Lanka. The Tipiṭaka was first written down in Sri Lanka, and that is why the Sinhala alphabet was used. Pāli has no script of its own.
- Since then, it has been written in many other scripts, including the English alphabet. I quote the English version compiled by the Pāli Text Society in the 1800s, which is easily accessible on the Sutta Central website with English translations; see, for example, see “Satta Sutta (SN 23.2)”. However, my translations often differ from theirs. Still, they provide an easy way to access the Pali versions, and I usually leave their translation in the link, too. You can replace only the sections with incorrect translations as needed.
- The Pāli Text Society adopted a special convention when writing Pāli words with the English alphabet (the Roman/Latin script is the writing system used for modern English, consisting of 26 letters derived from the classical Latin alphabet). Since the convention was adopted over 150 years ago, many are unaware of it today. More on that special writing convention in #4 below.
- Details in the “Historical Background” section.
Confusion With Sanskrit Words
2. Concepts in Buddhism (or Buddha Dhamma) seem close to those in Hinduism. The words sound similar, but the meanings are different.
- Most people are familiar with the Sanskrit words like karma and nirvāna.
- In Hinduism, nirvāna refers to a state of liberation marked by the extinguishing of desires and the realization of the true Self (ātman) as identical with Brahman (or Mahā Brahma), often used interchangeably with freedom from saṁsāra (the rebirth process).
- In Buddhism, Nibbāna is attained when rebirth in any realm is stopped. In Buddhism, the Brahma realm (where Brahman resides) is part of the cycle of rebirth. Thus, while Hindus believe the rebirth process stops with a birth in the realm of Mahā Brahma (i.e., one would live forever in that realm), the Buddha taught that life in that realm is also finite, though relatively long.
- Therefore, the concept of Nibbāna is quite different from nirvāna.
3. There are many such ‘similar-sounding words’ in Hinduism.
- Many people are probably familiar with some of the following words: karma, sutra, dvesha, anitya. Those are Sanskrit words in Hinduism.
- The corresponding Pāli words in Buddhism are: kamma, sutta, dosa, anicca. The meanings of these words are very different, just as with Nibbāna!
- I have explained the meanings of the Pāli words in various posts. You can find relevant posts by using the “Search” box at the top right. Just type the word, and you will get a list of relevant posts.
- I also hope to clarify the meanings of some other key Pāli words in this series.
Pronunciation of Pāli Words Written in English
4. In the late 1800s, the Pāli Text Society transliterated the Pāli Tipiṭaka with the Latin (Roman) script. Transliteration is the process of writing words using a different alphabet to show the pronunciation. They adopted a special convention to minimize the number of letters in a word, and also to provide a consistent way to pronounce all Pāli words.
- If written in the standard way, the word ‘anicca‘ should be written as ‘anichcha’. The latter is how the word would be written to be pronounced correctly in the normal way. In the same way, the word ‘citta‘ should be written in the standard way as ‘chiththa’.
- As you can see, the text can get quite long, with some other words being quite long.
- The convention adopted in the late 1800s was to represent the ‘ch’ sound with ‘c’. Thus, ‘anicca’ should be pronounced as “anichcha.”
- In other examples, the ‘t’ in a Pāli word must be pronounced as ‘th‘ (as in thief); for example, ‘anatta‘ must be pronounced as ‘anaththa’. The ‘ṭ’ in paṭicca must be pronounced as ‘t‘ (as in trip). Therefore, the word ‘Satipaṭṭhāna’ must be pronounced as ‘Sathipattāna’.
- Please see the post, “Pāli Words – Writing and Pronunciation” for more examples. It also provides audio files for several common Pāli words. It is a good idea to learn how to pronounce Pāli words. Over time, correct pronunciation can deepen your understanding. A Pāli verse sounds much better with correct pronunciation.
- Now, we turn to doctrinal issues.
What Happens to a Living Being at Death?
5. Various religions and philosophies have arisen in the world based on different answers to that question.
- Modern science proposes that the death of the physical body ends life permanently. Just as a tree grows from a seed and dies after some years, a human is born, lives a life, and dies; there is no afterlife. Science also assumes that conscious life evolved from inert matter, i.e., our thoughts arise in the brain.
- At the other extreme, all major religions believe that life continues after the death of the physical body. They believe an indestructible essence (called a ‘soul’ in Abrahamic religions and ‘ātman‘ in Hinduism) is associated with a human and survives the death of the physical body.
- In Abrahamic religions, that soul either merges with the ‘Creator God’ (and lives forever in heaven) or is born in hell for an eternity (without an end to life there). In Hinduism, the Mahā Brahma (see #2 above) replaces the ‘Creator God’.
- The Buddha taught the ‘middle way’: Life does not end with the death of the physical body, but no permanent entity (like a ‘soul’) is associated with it. However, until one comprehends that fact, one is reborn among 31 different realms in the world; of course, we see only two realms: the human realm and the animal realm. He also taught that in that cycle of rebirth, some realms have relative happiness and others much suffering, but over long periods the suffering is much greater. That is why one would want to attain Nibbāna, to be free of suffering.
6. We can see that there are some common concepts in Buddhism and Hinduism.
- In both, rebirths occur based on one’s actions (kamma/karma). Of course, the details are different.
- However, in Hinduism, the rebirth process ends when one cultivates jhāna and is reborn in a specific Brahma realm. They believe all suffering associated with life in lower realms comes to an end, and life in that realm lasts forever.
- The Buddha taught that the Brahma realm (where Mahā Brahma resides) is part of the cycle of rebirth. Furthermore, he taught that there are other realms lying above that realm with even longer lifetimes. The “Brahmanimantanika Sutta (MN 49)” explains that one time the Buddha went to meet Mahā Brahma (referred to as ‘Baka Brahma‘ in the Sutta) to try to explain to him that life there is finite and will come to an end.
- We must also keep in mind that there are many versions of Hinduism; as I understand it, not all Hindus try to cultivate jhāna. There are Hindus who practice animal sacrifices; that means engaging in akusala kamma. That is a stark difference; one cannot cultivate jhāna if one engages in akusala kamma.
One Must Decide for Oneself
7. It is for each person to decide which of the three possibilities (and possible variations among them) describes the actual process, i.e., what life is and what it entails. Do we live only one life, as modern science suggests? Is there only a binary choice of heaven or hell as taught in major religions? Or is there a rebirth process (where suffering dominates) that can last for trillions of years or can be ended even within this life, per the Buddha?
- Obviously, the critical problem with the scientific model of ‘just one life’ is that science cannot show how life evolved from inert matter. This is called the ‘hard problem of consciousness’. See #9 of “Consciousness and Color Perception – Current Scientific Understanding“.
- The ‘Creator theories’ of major religions (with the binary outcome of heaven or hell) are based solely on faith. It is hard to prove or deny because no ‘theory’ or ‘process’ is involved. Hinduism also has a Creator, the Mahā Brahma.
- There is no Creator in Buddhism. The Buddha’s teachings provide a detailed explanation of how ‘life’ arises moment to moment through a process called Paṭicca samuppāda. The ‘moment to moment’ aspect is signified by the prefix ‘idappaccayatā‘. The Buddha taught that the Idappaccayatā Paṭicca samuppāda describes the whole world, whether a Buddha is there to teach it or not. It is basically the ‘primary law of nature’.
Outcomes Possible in This Life?
8. As we can see, the easiest model is that of the major religions with two possible outcomes: eternity in heaven or hell. It is based entirely on faith, given that assumption. The main problem I see is the following: Why did the ‘Creator God’ create an imperfect human who can be subjected to suffering? What is the point of making everyone live a temporary ‘human life’ with diseases, old age, and death before committing some to an eternal heavenly life and others to an eternal hell existence?
- The scientific model is based on physics; i.e., it is solely based on the behavior of matter. One starts at a fundamental level with microscopic particles as the building blocks. Their interactions are described by chemistry, as they evolve into complex molecules, and then biology tackles the behavior of even more complex entities. However, the unresolved question is how living beings with feelings and perceptions can arise from that complexity.
- The Buddha’s teachings are the hardest to comprehend. But they are logical.
- Regarding the final outcome: (i) In the ‘religion model’, one would not know whether one is headed to heaven or hell; one could make an assumption, but there are no guarantees. (ii) The ‘scientific model’ predicts one outcome at the end, but their main assumption ( ‘hard problem of consciousness’) is unproven. (iii) In Buddha Dhamma, one can experience the outcomes in this life itself. One can experience step-by-step detachment from the world; it is even possible to experience the final outcome at the Arahant stage in this life.
- Furthermore, the Buddha’s Dhamma explains the basis of morality, i.e., why it is harmful to oneself to engage in killing, stealing, sexual misbehavior, etc. We will discuss that in upcoming posts.
Wider Worldview in Buddha Dhamma
9. When people hear about Devās and Brahmās in the Buddha Dhamma, two questions arise in their minds: (i) How do we know whether they really exist, and (ii) Why do we have to worry about them even if they exist?
- It is difficult to fully understand the Buddha’s teachings without a complete picture of our world. The rebirth process is foundational, and we cannot describe it without including all possible types of rebirths. See “Buddhism without Rebirth and Nibbāna?“
- To comprehend are Buddha’s teachings, one must first discard ten types of wrong views. These are discussed in the “Natthidinna Sutta (SN 24.5)“.
- Among them are the following wrong views: (i) There’s no afterlife, (ii) There are no beings that are reborn spontaneously, and (iii) There is no ascetic or a yogi who has seen other realms by cultivating jhāna.
10. Even though yogis with such capabilities do not exist today, they existed even before the Buddha. Those were Hindu yogis of that day (like Ālāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta), who could visit Brahma realms. Of course, they didn’t realize that the lifetimes of those realms were not infinite.
- Regarding (ii) above, all Devās and Brahmās have spontaneous births. That means they are born fully-formed. In those realms, there are no births from wombs (like in the case of humans and some animals), and no egg-born births (as in the case of some animals) in those realms.
- Even humans and animals are born instantly with their ‘mental body (manomaya kāya) first, which is called a gandhabba for humans. Then that manomaya kāya enters a womb or an egg, leading to a birth with a physical body. See “Buddhist Explanations of Conception, Abortion, and Contraception“.
- Many misconceptions related to the cultivation of jhāna can be understood by ‘seeing that wider worldview’ (for example, some wrongly believe jhāna are necessary to attain magga phala; however, cultivation of jhāna only leads to rebirths in higher Brahma realms).
- I will discuss that wider worldview in the next post.
Saddha (Faith) in Buddha’s Teachings
11. The faith in the Buddha’s teachings is related to the above issue of the existence of other realms that we cannot see.
- First, one would have ‘unestablished faith’ (amūlika saddhā) based on the ‘reasonableness’ of his teachings. Reaching that ‘reasonableness’ requires a broader worldview.
- Only after one has contemplated enough material in the suttās (essentially the material in Book 2 of the Saṁyutta Nikāya; see “Sotāpanna Stage – Essential and Unnecessary Concepts“) would one get to the ‘unbreakable faith’ (ākāravati saddhā) in his teachings.
- That is when one becomes a Sotāpanna, the first Noble Person. Attaining the Sotāpanna stage removes 99+% of future suffering, because they are ‘released’ from rebirths in the four lowest realms, called the apāyās.
It Is a Step-by-Step Process
12. Thus, attaining the Sotāpanna stage is the first priority for anyone. It only requires grasping the Buddha’s worldview: how a living being goes through the cycle of rebirth because of ignorance about how that process works. It is a cycle because, over trillions of years, one moves up and down the ladder of those realms without end. Understanding that process itself is enough to stop rebirths in the four lowest realms (apāyās).
- Then that Sotāpanna must cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path (essentially Satipaṭṭhāna and Satta Bojjhaṅga) to attain higher magga phala (stages of Nibbāna), ending at the Arahant stage. That is when one would be ‘fully enlightened’ and is released from all future suffering.
- However, since a Sotāpanna has removed 99+% of future suffering, attaining the Sotāpanna stage is the priority.
- One critical point I have tried to explain is that many people below the Sotāpanna stage waste their time by trying to learn and practice advanced concepts like Satipaṭṭhāna, which can be cultivated only by a Sotāpanna. See “Sotāpanna Stage – Essential and Unnecessary Concepts“.
- Another issue that I did not discuss above is the following: Many people believe Buddhism is depressing because it teaches about suffering in the world. However, it also teaches about how to overcome that suffering. The problem is that they don’t see the suffering within the rebirth process.
- Just because someone may not see enough suffering around them doesn’t mean the suffering embedded in the rebirth process disappears. It is good to contemplate the possible options discussed in #7 above.
Summary
13. The above will hopefully provide some general ideas about the Buddha’s teachings on life compared to other views based on other religions, philosophies, and science.
- The teachings of the Buddha are easier to understand if the reasoning behind the rebirth process is clear (that rebirths occur among 31 realms according to gati, or the character cultivated). Moral gati leads to ‘good rebirths’ and ‘immoral gati‘ leads to ‘bad rebirths’ in the apāyās. Both maintain the rebirth process. Of course, cultivating ‘moral gati‘ is necessary to comprehend Buddha’s teachings and help discard all gati to attain Nibbāna. At the first stage, one would permanently block ‘immoral gati‘ to attain the Sotāpanna stage. After the Sotāpanna stage, the futility of cultivating even ‘moral gati‘ becomes apparent.
- This section may help one understand deeper aspects in other sections of this website. There are already many old posts in this section, but I will try to revise them as needed and put them in a reasonable sequence.
- I will also expand on some of the above aspects in upcoming new posts as needed.
- Please feel free to ask questions in the discussion forum: “Forums“. I can even write posts based on such questions/comments.
All recent posts in “New / Revised Posts“.
