Three Jewels;three jewels;The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels marks the entry into the Buddhist path and distinguishes one as a Buddhist. +
rig 'dzin;awareness holder;awareness holder;vidyadhara;rigdzin;rigdzin;A master of high attainment in the Vajrayana. The Eight Great Vidyadharas were tantric siddhas from India. +
bio ldog rnam bzhi;four thoughts that turn the mind to dharma;four thoughts that turn the mind to dharma;lodok namshyi;lodok namshyi;(1) contemplating the rarity and preciousness of human fife, (2) impermanence and death, (3) karma, or cause and effect, and (4) the defects or shortcomings of samsara. +
enjoyment body;enjoyment body;sambhogakaya;One of the three bodies (''kayas'') of the Buddha. Part of the sambhogakaya can only be apprehended by fully enlightened Buddhas, and part of it can be apprehended by highly realized practitioners still on the path. +
paramita;The ''paramitas'', or transcendent perfections, are six activities that form the practice of the bodhisattva path: generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom. It is said that the five first paramitas are all meant to accomplish the sixth, the perfection of wisdom. ''Paramita'' literally means "gone to the other shore," having transcended samsara and attained nirvana. Compared to ordinary "perfections," they are said to be transcendent inasmuch as their practice is free from grasping at the notions of subject, object, and action. +
bio sbyong;lojong;lojong;A practice of training (sbyong) the mind (''io''/bio) and cultivating relative and absolute bodhichitta with the use of short phrases, or slogans, as taught by Atisha in his Seven-Point Mind Training and other eminent Kadam masters. Later, numerous ''lojong'' slogans were written by masters of all schools. +
mchod rten;stupa;chörten;chörten;A monument often containing relics of Buddhist saints, as well as mandalas, hundred of thousands of mantras, sacred books, and earth from various sacred places. Stupas symbolize the enlightened mind of the buddhas, while statues symbolize the enlightened body and books symbolize the enlightened speech. There are many kinds ofstupas, which are all built according to well-defined proportions. It is said that they bring great benefit to the land where they are built and contribute to reducing conflicts, famines, and other causes of suffering throughout the world. +
mkhan po;Khenpo;khenpo;A title for a person, mostly in the Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu traditions, who has completed the major course of nine to twelve years of studying traditional Buddhist philosophy, logic, Vinaya, and other subjects, and afterward has been authorized to teach. This title can also refer to the abbot of a monastery of any of the four traditions or the preceptor from whom one receives ordination. +
tshogs;ganachakra;A sacred feast or ritual of fering in tantric Buddhism in which oblations of food and drink are blessed as the elixir of wisdom and offered to the yidam deity as well as to the mandala of one's own body. +
dharmakaya;One of the three bodies (''kayas'') of the Buddha, the dharmakaya is the formless body of enlightened qualities and the absolute dimension of enlightenment. +
rnal 'byor;yoga;naljor;naljor;A term commonly used to refer to spiritual practice. ''Yoga'' literally means "joining" or "union" with the natural state of the mind. +