he following short glossary includes some terms which may be used during the festival talks: (Sanskrit, followed by Pali if applicable) Anitya (Pali anicca) – impermanence, one of the three marks of existence. Arhat (Pali arhant) – one who has attained liberation by eliminating the karmic tendencies and dissonant emotions which give rise to compulsive existence in a cycle of death and rebirth. Bodhicitta (bo-dee-chit-ta) – The altruistic aspiration to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, characterized by love, compassion and wisdom. Buddha (bu-daa) – Awakened One, Enlightened One. Dharma (Pali dhamma) – truth, the Buddha’s teachings, the underlying order of the universe. Karma (Pali kamma) – lit., “action.” The principle of cause and effect. Includes both intentional actions and the psychological imprints and tendencies created in the mind by such actions. Mahayana (ma-ha-ya-na) – lit., “Great Vehicle,” so called because of the intent to liberate all beings. One of the two great vehicles of Buddhism, it arose in the first century CE and spread north to China, Japan, Korea and Tibet. Maitri (Pali metta) – lovingkindness; unconditional friendship toward all beings. Nirvana (Pali nibbana) – permanent cessation of all suffering and the dissonant emotions which cause and perpetuate suffering. Samadhi (saa-mah-dee) – single-pointed concentration attained through higher meditation; absorption. Samsara – the cycle of birth, suffering and death that is the lot of all beings until they achieve enlightenment. Sangha (sahn-gaa) – the community of spiritual practitioners. Sati (saa-tee) – mindfulness, awareness. Shamatha – calm abiding meditation. Theravada (ter-ah-va-da) – “the system of School of the Elders,” the only one of the early schools of Buddhism to have survived into the present. It spread south, where it is prevalent in Sri Lanka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Vipassana – insight meditation. Lit., “supreme seeing.” Vajrayana – lit., “Diamond Vehicle,” an extension of Mahayana Buddhism which began to flourish in 500 CE. It emphasizes mantra, ritual, transmission from guru to disciple and esoteric methods. Tibetan Buddhism. Zen – a form of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in China in the 6th and 7th centuries and spread to Japan. The name derives from “Ch’an,” the Chinese version of the Sanskrit word “dhyana,” which refers to meditative absorption.