Sammas

Sammas is not a standard standalone term in most contexts; in Buddhist studies it is encountered as an anglicized or pluralized form of the Pali term sammā, meaning "right" or "proper." In canonical Pali and Sanskrit vocabulary, sammā appears as a prefix or adjective used to express correctness in conduct, speech, or thought. The most prominent usage is in the Noble Eightfold Path, where eight factors are prefixed by sammā, indicating "right" or "proper": sammā-ditṭhi (right view), sammā-sankappa (right intention), sammā-vācā (right speech), sammā-kammā (right action), sammā-ājīva (right livelihood), sammā-vāyāma (right effort), sammā-sati (right mindfulness), and sammā-samādhi (right concentration). The term is used across Theravada and Mahayana traditions, though the exact formulations can vary by tradition.

If encountered as "sammas" without diacritics, it usually represents an Anglicized or pluralized form in secondary sources and should be read as "sammā" or as referring to multiple "right" aspects. Beyond Buddhist literature, "sammas" does not have a widely recognized technical meaning in major disciplines. In contemporary usage, scholars typically preserve the diacritic and render the term as sammā or translate it as "right" or "proper" when discussing ethical and mental development.