BUDDHIST MEDITATION TERMINOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PALI CANON

Abstract

The article explores the phenomenologically oriented terminology of Buddhist meditation in the context of the Pali Canon and its modern interpretations. Buddhist meditation is a complex set of consciousness-training practices aimed at gradually transforming the practitioner’s worldview in order to eliminate such experiential qualities as suffering and dissatisfaction from their subjective experience. Language remains to be the primary way of transmitting meditative skills and instructions, which presents a number of challenges from the perspective of hermeneutics and phenomenology, particularly due to the inherent gap between language and reality – since words can only approximately point to an experience rather than replicate it. The basis of language for describing meditation is a predefined glossary of terms. Currently, there is both the original terminology from the Pali canon and its numerous translations and modern interpretations. However, both have drawbacks – the terms from the Tripitaka were created in a different cultural and historical context, which complicates their application, while modern terminologies are often created without taking into account the specifics of the meditative process and the difficulties that arise when verbally describing instructions due to the aforementioned limitations of language, which likely impacts the effectiveness of transmitting meditative skills and the quality of practice. Therefore, the article aims to outline a phenomenologically oriented terminology of Buddhist meditation for a more accurate description of mind training practices. The study analyzes key linguistic challenges in describing meditative experience and formulates core criteria for such terminology: pragmatic applicability, doctrinal consistency, accuracy, contextual flexibility, and logical coherence. It also presents an overview of the Pāli Canon, including frequency analysis of key terms, examination of the most commonly used instructional suttas, as well as the modern academic literature, which has formed its own terminology of Buddhist meditation by combining ancient sacred texts and recent scientific achievements. Based on the analyzed sources, a set of terms is proposed along with their functional definitions, corresponding Pāli equivalents, and conceptual interrelations. The conclusion summarizes the findings and offers directions for further research and potential practical applications.