Currently，when people use the four Agamas to study buddhism，they encounter many difficulties. My own experience confirms this. Consulting buddhist and chinese reference works often be resloved by a comparative reading of both the Agama sutras and its "corresponding" version in the five Pali Nikayas. I have accumulated a large amount of information in this regard，and hope that it will be useful to both scholars of buddhism and buddhist practitioners alike. I have Institute of buddhist studies, and after review my research proposal has been accepted. Work on this project has gone on for many years. At the chung-hwa institute of buddhist studies full-time researchers conference in 2002，I presented my third paper on this dictionary. Presently I ofter the current paper，"An explanation of the principles used in compiling the Agama dictionary，to the chung-hwa buddhist journal，soliciting comments and suggesting from others. 1. Sutras names. Of the four Agamas, only the Dirghagama and Madhyagama collections provide names for each of their sutras are long，and contents varied. The entires under these individual sutras names include a brief description of the sutra's contents for the unacquainted，as well as citations and references for academic use. 2. Buddhist terms. Terms relating to Buddhism and expressions unique to Buddhist contexts are included，while terms from non- Buddhist teachings or other areas of specialization are excluded. 3. Transliterated terms and mantras. When the Agamas were translated into Chinese，proper nouns, including personal names, celestial names, place names, and names of objects were often transliterated using Chinese characters. Additionally，terms and expressions which were difficult to translate were often transliterated. 4. Polysemy and ambiguity. Chinese，like Indo-European languages such as Pali and Sanskrit，contains words with multiple meanings which can create ambiguity. In both conversation and in writing，these ambiguities present implicit difficulties to the listener and reader. Chinese translations of Buddhist sutras (including the Agamas) also contain many instances of polysemy and ambiguity which prevent scholars from definitively interpreting the text，and deprive practitioners of guidance. In addition to ambiguous passages which can be understood from an analysis of either context or line of reasoning，many can be understood through an analysis based on the comparison of the "corresponding sutras'5 or "corresponding passages" in the Northern and Southern canons. 5. Declension and conjugation. Chinese translation
