39046884 glossary for mahayana and tibetan buddhism

7/30/2019 39046884 Glossary for Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism

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Glossary for Mahayana

and Tibetan Buddhism

Compiled by Geoffrey Samuel

[This glossary was intended as an introductory reference for 2nd yearundergraduate students taking a course on Tibetan Buddhism in theDepartment of Religious Studies at Lancaster University in 1996.]

Capitalization means that there is an entry elsewhere in the glossary, thoughI have not always capitalized very common terms like Buddha, Mahayana,Shakyamuni or Vajrayana.

Graham Colemans A Handbook of Tibetan Culture (Rider 1993) includes adetailed glossary of Tibetan Buddhist terminology (pp.277-420) which may

be useful for those wanting something slightly more advanced.

List of Terms

ABHIDHARMA (Skt., = Pali Abhidhamma). Philosophical school characteristicof the Early Schools of Buddhism (q.v.), in which reality is analysed in termsof fluctuating point-moments (dharma) of form, sensation, perception,motivation and consciousness. In Mahayana Buddhism, it is still studied, butis regarded as being superseded by the CITTAMATRA and MADHYAMAKAschools (qq.v.)

AMITABHA (Skt., "Infinite Light"= Tib. pam) Buddha described inMahayana sutras and held to dwell in a celestial paradise in the West. SeeBUDDHA.

ARHAT (Skt.) An arhatis someone who has attained NIRVANA (q.v.)

AVALOKITESHVARA (Skt. = Tib. Chenrezi). Mahayana and Vajrayana deityexpressing the compassion (Skt. karuna) of the Buddha.

BEYL (Tib.) "Hidden valley" in which people can take refuge at times ofpolitical disturbance and where Buddhism can be practised safely.

BODHICITTA (Skt., = Tib. changchub sem). Central motivational state

believed by the Mahayana to be essential for the attainment of Buddhahood,and defined as the desire to attain Buddhahood from compassion for thesufferings of other beings, and in order to acquire the ability to liberate themfrom their sufferings.

BODHISATTVA (Skt., = Tib. changchub sempa). For the Early Schools andthe Theravadins, the term bodhisattva refers primarily to the historicalBuddha Shakyamuni in his previous lives. For the Mahayana schools, it has a


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wider meaning, and refers to (1) anyone who has irreversibly entered on thepath to Buddhahood through arousing within himself or herself the centralMahayana motivation of BODHICITTA (q.v.); (2) certain highly-attainedbeings such as Avalokiteshvara or Manjushri who can be contacted in ritualfor aid and who are, in effect, deities or sambhogakaya forms of the Buddha(see TRIKAYA DOCTRINE).

BON (Tib). Term used in various senses for aspects of pre- and non-Buddhistreligion in Tibet. The main senses are (1) early Tibetan folk religion, beforethe times of the kings or emperors; (2) court religion of the kings oremperors in the 7th to 9th centuries; the term bon seems to have referred tosome of the priests of this cult; (3) "Reformed" Bon, essentially a variantBuddhist order, see BONPO below; (4) derogatory term for black magic, anti-Buddhist practices, folk religion.

BON(-PO) (= Bon, sense 3). A Tibetan religious tradition claiming to originatein the teachings of Tnpa Shenrab, who the Bonpo hold achievedEnlightenment many centuries before the time of the historical BuddhaShakyamuni. Essentially a variant Buddhist order which developed from the10th century onwards. Emphasises Tantric practice similar to the Old Tantratradition (see TANTRA) but with different YIDAM (deities). Like theNyingmapa, includes Dzogchen teachings and TERMA revelations. The Bonpowere subjected to some persecution by the GELUKPA in particular.

BUDDHA (Skt. = Tib. sangy). Awakened one; person who has achievedenlightenment (Skt. bodhi, Tib. changchub). For the Mahayana, the conceptof Buddhahood is extended from the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, he isseen as an emanation of a Buddha-nature (dharmakaya) underlying allphenomena. See TRIKAYA DOCTRINE. Within the Mahayana, there are

numerous Buddha-forms, such as Amitabha, Akshobhya and Vairocana, andsome of them can be encountered within meditation.

BUDDHA, HISTORICAL = SHAKYAMUNI, teacher who was the historical originof Buddhism, c.6th cent. BCE.

CAKRA (Skt., = Tib. korlo; the literal meaning is "wheel") One of a series offocal points of the system of circulation ofPRANA through the SUBTLE BODY.

CAKRAVARTIN (Skt., = Pali cakkavatti) Indian ideal of the world-ruling king.

CHAM (Tib.) Ritual dance (usually monastic).

CHD (Tib.). Tibetan meditational practice, said to have been introduced bythe 12th-century woman teacher Machik Labdrn. It involves visualizingones body being cut up, transformed and offered to deities and other beings(not necessarily demonic), and is a key practice for many Tibetan lay tantricpractitioners. It is a sung practice, accompanied by a hand-drum and bell.

CITTAMATRA (Skt. = "Mind Only"; Tib. semtsampa). School (moreaccurately, group of schools) of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy stressing the


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fundamental role of consciousness (citta) in creating our experience ofreality. Also known as YOGACARA.

DAKINI (Skt. = Tib. khandroma) Female initiatory deity in VajrayanaBuddhism; some human women are regarded as incarnate dakinis.

DALAI LAMA (Tib.) Series of Gelukpa reincarnate lamas which began in the15th century. The 5th Dalai Lama became ruler of much of Tibet, with hiscapital at Lhasa. The present Dalai Lama, the 14th, went into exile in 1959and is the de facto Tibetan national leader. The Dalai Lamas are held to beemanations (TULKU, q.v.) of AVALOKITESHVARA.

DHARMA (Skt.; = Tib. ch). (1) Buddhist teachings; (2) underlying order ofthe universe; (3) category in ABHIDHARMA philosophy, q.v.. Note thatdharma in non-Buddhist Indian texts has other meanings again (such ascaste obligation).

DHARMAPALA (Skt.) See GUARDIANS.

DHARMARAJA (Skt.) = Tib. chgyel. King claiming to rule in accord with theDharma.

DZOGCHEN (Tib.) Non-tantric tradition common to the Nyingmapa and theBonpo and regarded as a final and higher teaching to be undertaken as theculmination of Tantric practice. Dzogchen is said to have been revealedsometime after the life of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni by an Indianteacher known (in Tibetan) as Garab Dorje, and to have been transmitted toTibet by PADMASAMBHAVA and other teachers. It was important for the RIMmovement (q.v.), who regarded Dzogchen as equivalent to Mahamudra.

EARLY SCHOOLS: The teachings of the historical Buddha Shakyamunitraditionally formed the basis for eighteen early schools (in reality there weremore) differentiated in terms of locality, ritual practice, Vinaya (rules formonastic discipline) and particularly their philosophical understanding ofBuddhism. They developed from around 3rd century BCE onwards. TheTHERAVADIN tradition derives from one of these, although in its present formit is a much later development. Other early schools (esp. Sarvastivada,Dharmaguptaka, Mahasanghika) were important in the development of otherschools of Buddhism.

EASTERN BUDDHISM Neutral term for the Buddhism of the East Asiancountries (China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore),used by Peter Harvey.

ENLIGHTENMENT. Conventional English-language term for the state attainedby a BUDDHA.

FOUR MAIN ORDERS. Refers to NYINGMAPA, KAGYPA, SAKYAPA andGELUKPA religious traditions. Occasionally the BNPO are added to makefive.


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GALATIC POLITY. Model for the traditional states of Southeast Asia devisedby the anthropologist Stanley Tambiah.

GELUK(-PA) (Tib.). Tibetan Buddhist tradition founded by the disciples of the15th century lama Tsongkapa. Emphasises solid scholastic preparationbefore Tantric practice and claims to be a more authentic version of Indian

Buddhism than other schools. In the time of the 5th Dalai Lama, the Gelukpabecame politically dominant in much of Tibet.

GOMPA (Tib.) Spiritual community; often but not necessarily a community ofcelibate monks or nuns living close together (usually in individual houses,sometimes in communal buildings).

GUARDIANS (Skt. dharmapala, Tib. chkyong) Protective deities associatedwith religious traditions and communities.

GURU-YOGA (Skt.; Tib. = lam neljor) Ritual practice within TibetanVajrayana Buddhism in which the guru or lama is visualized and worshipped

in the form of Vajradhara, Padmasambhava or some other Tantric deity.HINAYANA "Lesser vehicle" Somewhat derogatory term for early schools ofBuddhism and their followers, applied by the followers of the MAHAYANA q.v.

KADAMPA. Tibetan Buddhist tradition founded by the Indian teacher Atisha,who came to Tibet in 1042, and his disciples. Emphasised monastic disciplineand the cultivation of BODHICITTA (q.v.). It has now disappeared, but manyof its teachings were taken up by other schools, particularly the GELUKPA,who sometimes referred to themsleves as "New Kadampa". In recent years,the term "New Kadampa" has been adopted by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso,director of the Tibetan Buddhist centre at Ulveston (Manjushriu Institute), as

a label for his organization.

KAGY(-PA) (Tib.) Group of Tibetan Buddhist traditions founded by thedisciples of the 11th century saint, poet and lama Milarepa. Emphasisespractice of tantric yoga according to the New Tantras.

KANJUR (Tib.) collection of sutras and tantra texts translated into Tibetan.Along with the TENJUR, collected treatises and commentaries by Indianteachers, it forms the main canonical collection of Tibetan Buddhist texts.There are however numerous later texts by Tibetan teachers and it isgenerally these that are studied by Tibetan Buddhists.

KARMAPA. (1) Monastic tradition, one of the Kagypa group of traditions; (2)its senior reincarnate lama, also known as the Gyalwa Karmapa. This isusually regarded as the oldest reincarnate-lama lineage, and is claimed to goback to the 12th century lama Dsum Kyenpa. The 16th Gyalwa Karmapadied in 1981; the identity of his rebirth is currently in dispute.

KINGS (sometimes called EMPERORS) (Tib. tsenpo) Rulers of anexpansionary Tibetan empire from 7th to 9th centuries CE.


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LA (Tib.) "Soul" or "spirit" which can be lost, so causing illness.

LAMA (Tib.) corresponds to Sanskrit guru but has a wider range of meaningsin Tibetan. Can mean (1) personal religious teacher, especially of Vajrayana(Tantric Buddhism); (2) head or leading figure within a spiritual community(gompa); (3) a properly qualified performer of Tantric ritual. Note that the

roles of lama and MONK are different. Most monks are not lamas, and lamasare not necessarily monks.

LHA (Tib.) General term for deities; includes Tantric deities as well as localgods.

LHASA Central Tibetan town, capital of the early kings of Tibet (7th to 9thcenturies CE) and of the Dalai Lamas (17th to 20th centuries CE).

LOCAL GODS Gods (male and female) of the mountains, lakes, rivers andother geographical features, important in Tibetan folk religion.

LU (Tib. = Skt. naga). Water-dwelling serpent-like spirits, often female.L (Tib.) Ransom offering to local deity or spirit.

LUNGTA (Tib.) "Prayer- flags" strung up around buildings and sacred placesto bring good fortune.

MADHYAMAKA (Skt; also MADHYAMIKA. Tib. umapa). Buddhist philosophicalschool, traditionally developed by the ?2nd century Buddhist philosopherNagarjuna, and emphasizing the identity of SAMSARA and NIRVANA, and theempty or void (shunya) nature of our ordinary dualistic perceptions of reality.

MAHAMUDRA (Skt. = Tib. Chagchen), the central goal of Vajrayana

Buddhism in the New Tantra tradition.

MAHAYANA "Great Vehicle". Tendency or approach that developed withinBuddhists from the 1st cent BCE onwards. Associated with the revelation ofmany new texts (see MAHAYANA SUTRAS) held to have been taught by thehistorical Buddha Shakyamuni in his lifetime but to have been hiddenbecause the time was not yet ready for their being taught publicly. KeyMahayana emphases are on the partial and selfish nature of the ARHATsenlightenment as compared with that of a fully-enlightened BUDDHA, and theneed to arouse the motivation of BODHICITTA in order to attain fullenlightenment. It was also associated with new philosophical perspectives

(see CITTAMATRA, MADHYAMAKA) and deities (see BODHISATTVA, BUDDHA,TRIKAYA DOCTRINE).

MAHAYANA SUTRAS see MAHAYANA. Well-known Mahayana sutras includethe Prajnaparamita Sutras (among them the Astasahasrika or 8000 VersePrajnaparamita Sutra, the "Heart Sutra" and the Vajracchedika or DiamondSutra), the Saddharmapundarika or Lotus Sutra, the Lankavatara Sutra, theAvatamsaka Sutra (a large collection of texts which includes the GandavyuhaSutra), the Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra, etc.


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MANJUSHRI (Skt. = Tib. Jambeyang) Mahayana and Vajrayana deity oftranscendent insight (prajna), patron of scholarship.

MANTRA (Skt.; = Tib. ngak). Ritual formula used in Vajrayana practice (seeSADHANA) to evoke a particular deity.

MERIT. The idea of transfer of the merit from ones religious practice toanother person or for the good of other beings is generally regarded as non-canonical in Theravada Buddhism although it is quite common in practice. InMahayana Buddhism the dedication of merit for the good of other beings isan essential part of all ritual practice.

MILAREPA . See KAGYPA.

MONK. The Tibetans have novices and fully-ordained monks (Skt. bhikshu) asin other Buddhist traditions. The status of monk is respected, but it is not ascentral to the religious tradition in some ways as in the Theravadin countries,because of the greater importance of lay practice and particularly the role of

the LAMA. Note that most monks are not lamas, and lamas are notnecessarily monks.

NADI (Skt., = Tib. tsa) Vein or channel through which PRANA circulates aboutthe SUBTLE BODY.

NAGARJUNA. See MADHYAMAKA.

NIRVANA (Skt.). State of release from the endless circling (SAMSARA) ofrebirth in the world.

NORTHERN BUDDHISM Neutral term for the Buddhism of Tibet and Mongolia,used by Peter Harvey.

NUN. As in Theravadin countries, Tibetan women practitioners (genericallycalled ani) could not traditionally attain the full ordination ofbhikshuni, sincethe ordination lineage was held to have died out. There were numerouscommunities ofani, but there were fewer of them than male monastics andtheir status was lower.

NYINGMA(-PA) (Tib.). Tibetan Buddhist tradition claiming to originate in theteachings of PADMASAMBHAVA and his associates in the 8th century.Emphasises Tantric practice according to the Old Tantra tradition (seeTANTRA) and also includes Dzogchen teachings. The terma revelations are

found mostly among the Nyingmapa and BONPO. The Nyingmapa tradition isless centrally organized than other traditions, although there are six principalteaching monasteries in Central and East Tibet, and specific traditions linkedto each of these.

OM MANI PADME HUM. Mantra of Avalokiteshvara (q.v.).

ORACLE PRIESTS. Term sometimes used for monastic spirit-mediums such asthat of Pehar (q.v.0


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PADMASAMBHAVA (Tib. Pema Jungne, Guru Rinpoche). Semi-historical Indiantantric teacher who is regarded as being principally responsible for theintroduction of the Old Tantra tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet in thelate 8th century. For the NYINGMAPA tradition he is also important as aTantric deity, particularly in GURU-YOGA (q.v.).

PALI CANON Body of Buddhist texts written in the Pali language and regardedas canonical by the Theravada. For the Tibetan equivalent, see Kanjur.

PANCHEN LAMAS. A series of GELUKPA reincarnate lamas which goes back toa teacher of the 5th DALAI LAMA. Within the Gelukpa tradition, second inimportance only to the Dalai Lamas. After the 14th Dalai Lama left Tibet in1959, the Chinese government attempted to use the Panchen Lama tolegitimise Chinese rule. He died in 1989. A reincarnation was recognized in1995 by the Dalai Lama and the officials of the Panchen Lamas monastery,but has not been accpted by the Chinese government , who have recognizedan alternative candidate.

PEHAR or PEKAR. Important GUARDIAN who manifests through a spiritmedium to advise the Dalai Lama and his government.

PERFECTIONS (Skt. paramita) Six (usually) qualities whose bringing toperfection defines the path of the BODHISATTVA. They are generosity, ethicaldiscipline, patience, perseverence, meditative concentration anddiscriminative awareness (praja).

PRAJA (Skt.) Wisdom or discriminative awareness.

PRANA (Skt., = Tib. lung) "Breath"; substance which circulates around theSUBTLE BODY. A similar concept to the Chinese qi.

REFUGE. As in Theravada Buddhism, the Taking of Refuge in the THREEJEWELS (q.v.) is an important element of Buddhist ritual, and usually formsthe first stage of a SADHANA or other ritual sequence. For Tibetans, theRefuge is often taken in front of an elaborate visualization of Tantric deities,centred on the guru in the form of Vajradhara, Padmasambhava or someother YIDAM. The refuge may include a refuge in the Lama preceding that inBuddha, Dharma and Sangha. Refuge may also be taken in Guru (= LAMA),Deva (=YIDAM) and DAKINI or in some other form.

REINCARNATE LAMAS. (Tib. tulku; yangsi) Lama who is recognized, usuallyin childhood, as the rebirth of a previous lama, and who takes over theprevious lamas position and property by virtue of this recognition. Disputesover recognition of reincarnate lamas are common (see PANCHEN LAMA,KARMAPA), and sometimes multiple rebirths are recognized for a single lama.

RIM (Tib.) Tibetan religious movement which developed in Eastern Tibetfrom the 1860s onwards among all the non-GELUKPA traditions, including theBONPO (see FOUR MAIN ORDERS). Different Rim teachers had differingviews, but all tended to emphasise the need to maintain a plurality of paths


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and methods, and saw the various methods as united through their commongoal. DZOGCHEN (q.v.) and the TERMA (q.v.) traditions were important forthe Rim lamas, and many of the leading figures were themselves TERTN(q.v.). Some were also involved in the revival of the SHENTONGPA teachings,though not all were Shentongpa.

RINPOCHE (Tib. = "Precious"). Honorific applied to reincarnate lamas andother highly respected persons.

SAKYA(-PA) (Tib.) Tibetan Buddhist tradition founded in the 12th century atthe monastery of Sakya in Central Tibet. Stressed scholarship and Tantricpractice, mainly of the New Tantras (especially Hevajra).

SAMSARA. The existence of ordinary beings, characterized by constantrebirth in one or another of the six planes of rebirth (gods, asuras, humanbeings, animals, pretas, beings in hell).

SANG (Tib.) Offering ritual to local gods.

SANGHA (Skt.; = Tib. gedn). For the Theravadins, this term refersspecifically to the monastic community. For Mahayana Buddhists, it isextended to include lay practitioners.

SADHANA (Skt.; = Tib. drubtab). Meditational practice, normally involvingvisualization, recitation of verses and mantras, physical gestures, and real orvisualized offerings to a particular YIDAM, in order to attain ENLIGHTENMENTor other supernatural power (see SIDDHI).

SHAKYAMUNI "Sage of the Shakyas" (also known by his personal nameGautama or his family name Siddhartha). The historical Buddha, who lived in

the 6th century BCE in North India.SHAMAN(IC). The term "shaman" is used variously. In my definition,shamanic practices involve the regulation and transformation of human lifeand human society through the use (or purported use) of alternate states ofcosciousness by means of which specialist practitioners are held tocommunicate with a mode of reality alternative to, and more fundamentalthan, the world of everyday experience.

SHENTONG(-PA) Interpretation of the Madhyamaka texts which emphasizedthat shunyata was not merely a negative concept, but should be understoodas a positive non-dual awareness which could be directly perceived by yogic

practitioners. Closely linked with the yogic tradition and tantric practice. Themain Shentongpa tradition, the Jonangpa, was suppressed for some centuriesby the Gelukpa regime in Central Tibet, who hgeld the opposite (rangtongpa)view, but it was revived by the Rim teachers in the 19th century.

SHERPA. Tibetan Buddhist community in Northern Nepal.


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SHUNYA (skt) Void, empty; SHUNYATA (Skt) Voidness, emptiness. Centralconcept of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, taught especially in thePrajnaparamita Sutras. See MADHYAMAKA.

SIDDHA (Skt.; = Tib. drubtob). Person who has acquired SIDDHI; especiallyapplied to the Tantric practitioners of India from the 8th to 12th centuries.

SIDDHI (Skt.; = Tib. ngdrub). Supernatural power. The Tibetans speak ofthe "ordinary siddhi" meaning magical powers of various kinds, and the"extraordinary siddhi", which is Buddhahood.

SOUTHERN BUDDHISM Neutral term for the Buddhism of the Theravadacountries, used by Peter Harvey.

SPIRIT MEDIUMS Persons through whom local gods or spirits communicate.

SUBTLE BODY. System of channels and focal points within the humanorganism around which PRANA circulates.

SUTRA (Skt. = Tib. do) Text claiming to present teachings given by thehistorical Buddha in his own words.

TANTRA (Tib gyd) (1) a ritual tradition of the Vajrayana, transmitted fromguru to disciple; (2) a text associated with one or another of these traditions.There are also Hindu and Jain tantras. Important Buddhist Tantras, mostlynamed after their principal deity, include Guhyasamaja, Cakrasamvara,Hevajra, Yamantaka and Kalacakra. The Tibetans differentiate between OLDTANTRAS (Tib. nyingmai gyd) held to have been transmitted to Tibet at thetime of Padmasambhava and mostly not existing in Sanskrit, and NEWTANTRAS (Tib. sarmai gyd) which were transmitted in the 11th and 12th

centuries and in many cases also exist in Sanskrit versions.TANTRIC BUDDHISM see VAJRAYANA

TARA (Skt.; = Tib. Drlma). Important Mahayana and Vajrayana femaledeity, associated with the compassionate activity of the Buddha in order torescue beings from suffering.

TERMA (Tib.) Text or other object held to have been hidden, usually at thetime of Padmasambhava, and later discovered by a TERTN or "finder ofterma". Tertn are believed to be rebirths of one of Padmasambhavasdisciples. Terma may be physical objects but they may also be "hidden" in

the mind of the tertn during the life of Padmasambhava (these are calledgongteror "mind terma").

THERAVADA Modern school of Buddhism, found mainly in Sri Lanka andSoutheast Asia (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, parts of Vietnam),claiming to represent a pure form of the original teachings of the historicalBuddha SHAKYAMUNI and to go back to one of the EARLY SCHOOLS ofBuddhism (q.v.).


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THREE JEWELS. = BUDDHA, DHARMA and SANGHA.

TIBET. The term Tibet is somewhat contested for political reasons. While it isfrequently applied (especially by pro-Chinese sources) to the "TibetAutonomous Region" of the Chinese Peoples Republic, which correspondsroughly to the region of the Gelukpa state at Lhasa in 1950, this includes less

than half of the Tibetan population within the Chinese Peoples Republic.Several other Chinese provinces (Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu) includesubstantial Tibetan populations. Other culturally Tibetan regions includeLadakh, Zanskar, Lahul, Spiti, Kinnaur and Sikkim in India, much of NorthernNepal, and the independent kingdom of Bhutan.

TRIKAYA DOCTRINE. Doctrine of the three "bodies" (better, levels ofmanifestation) of the Buddha, developed within Mahayana Buddhism. Thethree kaya are (1) Dharmakaya (Skt., = Tib. chku), the ultimate nature ofBuddhahood as inherent in all phenomena and beings, symbolized by theBuddha-forms Vajradhara in the New Tantra and Samantabhadra in the OldTantra; (2) Sambhogakaya (Skt., = Tib.

longchku), the level of visionary

manifestation of Buddhahood, as with the yidam or Tantric deities such asAvalokiteshvara, Amitabha or Tara; (3) Nirmanakaya (Skt., = Tib. tulku), thephysical form or emanation of Buddhahood, such as the historical Buddha,Shakyamuni. See also TULKU.

TRIPITAKA (Skt.). General term for canonical connections of Buddhist texts.See PALI CANON; KANJUR.

TRIRATNA (Skt.; = Tib. knchk sum) See THREE JEWELS.

TSONGKAPA. See GELUKPA.

TULKU (Tib., corresponding to Skt. nirmanakaya). Literally, physical form oremanation of the Buddha. Also used to refer to REINCARNATE LAMAS (q.v.).

UPAYA (Skt.) Means, methods, techniques; in full upaya-kaushalya, "skillfulmeans," referring to the Buddhas ability to teach appropriately for anystudent.

VAJRA (Tib. dorje) "thunderbolt", ritual implement used by Tantricpractitioners, usually in conjunction with the bell (drilbu), symbolizing meansand wisdom respectively.

VAJRAYANA "vehicle of the Vajra"; Tantric Buddhism. Tradition of Buddhism

which became widespread in later Indian period (5th to 12th centuries CE)and was transmitted to Nepal, Southeast and East Asia, Tibet and Mongolia.It flourished most in Tibet and Mongolia although it exists to greater or lesserdegrees elsewhere including Japan, Nepal and Bali. It has largely disappearedfrom China and from the Theravadin countries. Related to Tantric traditions inHinduism. Vajrayana consists of a body of methods for the attainment of thecentral goal of Buddhism (Enlightenment or bodhi). These methods involvethe visionary transformation of ones ordinary self and ones environment into


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the pure realms of the Tantric deities (yidam). They are thought, if practisedproperly, to enable the attainment of Buddhahood within a single lifetime (ascontrasted with the methods of the Hinayana and Mahayana, which takemany thousands of lifetimes). They are also believed to give access to themagical powers which are the basis of the lamas role in relation to the laypopulation.

VINAYA (Skt.). See VOWS.

VOWS. The vows of Theravadin Buddhist practitioners, whether lay ormonastic, are taken according to the rules of the VINAYA or disciplinary code.These vows (known as Pratimoksha vows in Skt.) are taken by TibetanBuddhist practitioners, but Tibetans also take two further sets of vows. Theseare Bodhicitta vows, which centre around the arousing and keeping ofBODHICITTA (q.v.), and Tantric vows, which are associated with VAJRAYANApractice.

YESHE TSOGYEL. 8th century Tibetan woman and Tantric consort of

PADMASAMBHAVA. According to tradition, she played a key role in the writingdown of the TERMA, and is herself sometimes invoked as a YIDAM.

YIDAM. Tantric deity. See SADHANA; TRIKAYA DOCTRINE; VAJRAYANA

YOGA (Skt.; Tib. = neljor). General term for techniques of meditation andspiritual practice in Indian religions. In Tibet, it usually refers to Tantricpractice.

YOGI (Skt.; Tib = neljorpa). Practitioner of yoga (also female, yogini,neljorma). In Tibet, generally refers to lay Tantric practitioners, thoughmonks and nuns also perform Tantric yoga.

YOGACARA. See CITTAMATRA.

39046884 glossary for mahayana and tibetan buddhism

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