Repaying the Univers
   VISION  OF   THE   DHAMMA
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NOTES   ON  TECHNICAL  TERMS  AND  PROPER NAMES

    Technical terms and proper names of  Pali and Sanskrit origins.     In romanizing technical and
proper names  of Pali and Sanskrit origins, there have developed different practices over the many
years since Buddhism became known tothe West .   Here are some general observations on such
pratices.
    1.  Use and non-use of diacritics.    When pracision in tranliteration is called for, escially when
chunks of scritural texts are cited, diacritics are needed.     For example, the underdot is primarily
used to distinguish the retroflex (re cerebrol) series i, the,d dh, and n from their respective dental
counterparts t, the, d, dh and n.   Without the underdot,  ambiguity can occur, e,g, vatta  "round of
rebrith"  vs vatta "observance," which migh lead to confusion and misinterpretation when the 
word in guestion is cited without context.
      However,  due to typographic difficalies, many publishers omit diacritics altogether.   Thus. we
find, for instance, nibbana alongside nibbana, and sangha as opposed to sangha.   Two digraphs
are sometimes used in place of consonants whit diacritics.   For instance, nyana is actually nana
"direct knowledg."  The ny in this case is meant to be a digraph for n, and must not be confused
whit with the regular ny cluster as in Nyana, in Hindu philosophy.   Similarly, the digraph sh are
sometimes used in place of either s as in Ashoka (=Ashoka) or s as in moksha  (=moksa).
     2. Variants in transliteration.     For the same Pali or Sanskrit letter, variantsin transliteration
might occur.    In particular, the Pali niggahita, or nasal consonant, is also transliterated as m and
m.    Likewise, some writers use the simple n not only for the dental nasal, but also for thevelar (or
gutteral) nasal even when all words are otherwise fully spelled with diacritics,e,g, sankhara as
opposed to sankhra.
     3. Direct borrowings in English.   Several Buddhist terms have been so frequently used by
English speakers as to warrant their inclusion in the English lexicon as permanent loanwords.  For
instance, nirvana, sutra and tripitaka, which can be found in most unabridged general-purpose
dictionaries, are from the Sankrit nirvana, sutra and tripitaka, respectively.   In such cases, the use
of diacritics is considered to be no longer necessary.
    4.  Anglicization. Like most loan words, Buddhist terms from Pali and Sanskrit tend to be 
anglicized in pronunciation.   For instance, theword jnana (Sanskrit: jnana) "direct knowledg" is
pronounced as /d32 na:na/)   Some of such terms in more common use have been furtheranglicized
in morphology as well, as evidenced from the fact that they can take English derivation suffixes.
Apart from Buddhism, Buddhist and Buddhahood (from the Paliand Sanskrit buddha +ism, ist and
-hood, respectively), we find karnic ( from the Sanskrit karma +ic), and Arhatship, (from the 
Sanskrit arhat + ship). Perhaps even more productive is the inflectional plural suffix -s, which can be found freely added to borrowings, whether permanent or not.    Among writers who adopt this
practice, sometimes only the Pali or Sanskrit stems, with or without diacritics, are italicized while
the suffix -s is set in roman type.    This typographic covention seems to be especially observed when the permanent status as loanword of the term in question is still in doubt; hence, jatakas
" birth-stories" and devas "deities" as opposed to Buddhas, whose permanent loanword status has
been establishe 
     5. Sanskrit forms and their Pali counterparts.   Owing to Western scholars prior interest in the study of Sanskrit and Hinduism, the Buddhist names and terms that first entered the English
language were almost exclusively Samskrit.        In earlier books on Buddhism, and even today;s
publications, especially on Mahayana Buddhism, Sanskrit forms are predominantly used throughout.    However, there has been a gowing tendency among scholars in Theravada Buddhism
to replace Sanskrit forms with their Pali counterparts.   For example, Siddhattha, Gotama, dhamma,
kamma and nibbana (or nibbana) are preferred to Siddhartha (or Siddhartha), Gautama, dhamma,
karma and nirvana (or nirvana), repectively.
              With these observations in mind, the reader may find in the present volume both Pali and Sanskrit forms, e,g. kamma and karma.    The Sanskrit forms are more prevalent in earlier works, 
while the Pali forms are to be found in more recent works, which reflects the current trend mentioned above.   In addition, diacritics will only be used for more specific technical terms, e, g.
paticcasamuppada.    Those words deemed to be familiar to most Buddhists are spelled without
diacritics, e,g.  nibbana and Theravada.
  Proper  names  in  Thai
     Not unrelated to the romanization of Pali and Sanskrit borrowings in English, there is a problem
of how to roamanize proper names in Thai.    It is all too well known that different people.  Thais
and Westerners alike, might spell the same name differently, in some cases according to their own
system, but in most cases without any system at all.      The problem is further complicated by the
fact that many Thai proper names contain elements of Pali and Sanskrit origins.  Some people, even with a slight knowledge of those two languaes, might be tempted to spell such names as closely as
possible to their original forms, e,g.   Ayudhya rather than Ayutthaya.     To cite another axample,
for the name  Prayut might be found Prayuddh, Prayoot and Prayut, reflecting different degrees
of modifacation and mixture between etymologically-driven transliteration and pure transcription.
         As far as standards for the romanixation of Thai words and names are concerned, the Royal 
Institute,s system is worth considering for two reasons.     It is systematic enough to guarantee the
uniform romanized spelling of every Thai word.    In addition, as the official system sanctioned by the government authorities, it is used for the great majiority of place names in Thailand, and has thus gained wide currency.     However, one major shortcoming of this  system, which is based on
transcriptional principles with a view to facilitating keyboarding, is oversimplification.    The euntra
lization of the five different tones, of short and long vowels, and of different consonants sharing the
same phoneme often results in ambiguities.    To cite a rather extreme case, the romanized form
sap may represent as many as ten words:            In this light, while the Royal  Institute,s system is
generally followed as for as possible, modifications can also be found in the present volume to get
round both Sard for is felt to be preferable to the ambignuous Sat, and the ecclesiastical title spelled as Brahmaganabhorn looks more appropriate than either the heavily etymologically-driven
Brahamagunabhana or the purely phonetic Prom Khunaphon.
    Capitalization
        Finally, there remains a problem of whether and when to capitalizetechnical terms.   Again, 
in books on Buddhism published over the years there have been discrepancies and sometimes 
inconsistencies in the capitalization of technical terms.    We find, for example, the Law of Karma
alongside the law of cause and effect.
     In this volume, capitalization is kept to a minimum.    Only those terms that might otherwise not
be properly understood in the given context will be capitalized, e,g. the Pali, the Order, and the
Dispensation.

      forty-nine years ago, in 1945, with the end of World War II, the world witnessed the close of the greatest calamity ever experuenced by mankind.    In an effort to avoid the recurrence of such
a catastrophe, the United Nations was established immediately after the war, with the primary objective of maintaining interminational peace and security.  But almost as soon as it was founded,
the Cold War began.         Although the Cold War is now over, racial and religious conflicts have fared up in many areas of the planet, and environmental degeneration presents a major threat to 
human survival.    Despite the resolution of some of the world,s conflicts, genuine world peace and
security are still far from being realized.
     Human being seem to be more inclined and violence than to peace: to break peace is evidently
easier than to keep it.       Conflict and war appear to be the norm and peace simply a temporary 
respite.    However, this is not the inevitable state of affairs.    Conflict arises in the mind, and it is
there that it can be resolved.
  In reality, we are our minds.     When we allow our desire for material
gains to grow unchecked, our fellow beings become adversaries and nature becomes an object to 
be exploited.    In the wake of the belief that true happiness can only be attained through sensual
gratification, we have developed extremly materialistic ways: competition and consumtion have 
become the very rules of life and the dominant energies of our societies.   We have become "com-
sumers," devoted to a life-style of competition for consumption.   But competition leads us into a 
state of permanent "cold war" with our neigbbors, and a life of consumption puts us at adds with the environment.    Lacking happiness within, we try to find it outside in sense pleasures.   Lacking
inner peace and security, we try to establish them through controlling and dominating others.   Ethnic biases and sectarianism only intensify the conflict.
        But human beings can be and need to be trained through education.      It is this potential for
development and creativity that is the real gift of being human.    However, when education is out
of balance, it only promotes our abilities to equire material possessions and gratify the senses: ignoring our true potential, it fails to develop our ability to be happy .   Despite an increasing suply
of pleasure-objects, happiness is on the wane.
     The search for external happinees is contentious.      It not only brings us into conflict with our
neighbors but also wreaks havoc on the environment.   Our efforts to obtain the external happiness
have already begun to reduce the overall quality of our lives.    Morever, since such happiness is based solely on gratification, it increases our dependence on external pleasures, thereby depriving
us of our freedom.
     Conversely, a skillful and balanced education will train people to develop not only the skills to
seek external objects to make them happy but also the ability to be happy within themselves.   As they find it easier to be happy, so will their need for material wealth decrease, resulting in less exploitative attitudes.            People who are happy within themselves tend to make others happy.  Because their material gains are no longer the sole source of their happiness, they are able to share
hteir gains with others.    What was initially contentious happiness becomes a sharing and harmo-
nious kind of happiness.
         Our current moral education, perceiving the problems and conflicts caused by the unbridled 
struggle for happiness, teaches restraint based on awareness of human rights.   We therefore live in
societies where peace is enforced through restraint.   But my ethic based on fear and obligation is
negative and reliable - its prohibitive nature is inadequate.    A genuine ethic, in contrast, is based on harmony and happiness.   For those who experience inner peace and independent happiness,
wealth and power lose their mere pleasure-giving or prestige value and become instead means to
bring about well-being and happiness to fellow beings.    Our time calls for such a positive ethic.
     Much of our education tends to encouarage a sense of taking and getting: children learn to see
material things as objects to be attained.      To counterbalance this trend, education, both at home and at school, should instill an appreciation of giving.      The practice of giving tangibly teaches a
happiness through and generates loving-kindness.    Love means the desire for others to be happy.
We learn to look at others as fellow beings, subject to the same joys and sorrows and the same laws
of nature as we are.    As giving satisfies our desire for the happiness of others, both parties will benefit and become happy.   In this way,  giving, which otherwise might be seen as a loss, becomes
a gain, a cause for happiness.      Only through such a harmonious happiness will our demands for
others, more exploitative forms of happiness be mitigated, resulting in a reduction in social tensions.