Property:Gloss-term
From Buddha-Nature
This is a property of type Text.
T
ma rig pa;Ignorance;ignorance;avidya;In a Buddhist context, ignorance is not mere nescience but mistaken apprehension. It is the incorrect understanding of, or failure to recognize, the ultimate nature of the person and phenomena, and the false ascription of true existence to them. +
'khor lo sgyur ba'i rgyal po;The wheel-turning king;the wheel-turning king;Chakravartin;The wheel-turning king. The name given to a special kind of exalted being who has dominion over a greater or smaller part of the three-thousandfold universe, so called because he is said to possess a great wheel-shaped weapon with which he subdues his enemies. According to traditional cosmology, such beings appear only when the human life span surpasses eighty thousand years. By analogy, the word is also used as a title for a great king. +
drang don;Expedient Meaning;expedient meaning;The teachings of expedient meaning are, for example, the instructions on the Four Noble Truths, the aggregates, the dhatus, and so forth, which insofar as they do not express the ultimate truth are of provisional validity only. They are nevertheless indispensable in that their purpose is to lead beings gradually on the path, bringing them to greater understanding and final accomplishment. Contrasted with the ultimate or definitive meaning (''nges don''). +
phung po;Aggregates;aggregates;skandhas;These are the five psychophysical constituents of the individual person: form, feelings, perceptions, conditioning factors, and consciousness. +
chos kyi grags pa;Dharmakirti;(seventh century C.E.). One of the greatest masters of logic in the tradition of Dignaga. He was the author of numerous works, the most celebrated of which is the ''Pramanavarttika (tshad ma rnam 'grel)''. +
'phags pa;superior,sublime,noble one;superior,sublime,noble one;Arya;lit. superior, sublime, or noble one. One who has transcended samsaric existence. There are four classes of sublime beings: Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. +
kun bzang dpal ldan;Kunzang Pelden;kunzang pelden;(c.1870-c.1940). A greatly respected Nyingma master in eastern Tibet, also known as Khenpo Kunpel. He was a disciple of both Patrul Rinpoche and Mipham Rinpoche. He wrote a commentary on the latter's ''Beacon of Certainty (nges shes sgron me)'' and on Shantideva's ''Bodhicharyavatara'' in which he closely follows the interpretation of Mipham Rinpoche. He founded the ''shedra'', or college of higher studies, at Kathok monastery. +
tshong kha pa;Tsongkhapa;tsongkhapa;(1357-1419). Also known as Lozang Drakpa and, more honorifically, as Je Rinpoche. A major scholar and master of the Tibetan tradition, considered to be an emanation of the Bodhisattva Mañjushri. He was the founder of the Gelug school. +
tshad ma;Valid Cognition;valid cognition;A cognition that correctly knows its object, a nondeceptive cognition that brings about certainty regarding its object. +
dbu ma'i gtan tshigs bzhi;Four Arguments;four arguments;The four great Madhyamika arguments used to prove that phenomena are without intrinsic being. The first is the so-called diamond splinters argument. This addresses the question of causes and shows that it is impossible for phenomena to arise produced from themselves, from something else, from both self and other or uncaused. The second argument deals with effects and demonstrates that it is impossible for effects, whether existent or nonexistent, to be produced. The third examines both cause and effect together and refutes the production from any of the four alternatives. The fourth investigates the nature of phenomena and is divided in two separate arguments: the argument of dependent arising and the argument of neither one nor many. +
nges don;Ultimate Meaning;ultimate meaning;The teachings of the ultimate or definitive meaning expound the ultimate truth, or emptiness, in direct terms. They are contrasted with the teachings of expedient meaning. +
shes sgrib;Cognitive Obscurations;cognitive obscurations;Dualistic thought processes that apprehend subject, object, and action as being truly existent and that thus act as obstructions to the mind's omniscience. +
spyi mtshan;Generally Characterized Phenomena;generally characterized phenomena;Universal ideas and mental images of phenomena (''don spyi''), as contrasted with real, individual, concrete objects. See also Specifically characterized phenomena. +
sems byung;Mental Factors;mental factors;These are innumerable mental factors or events concomitant with the consciousness (the main mind), which can be gathered, according to Asanga, in fifty-one principal ones. These are again subdivided into six groups: (1) five omnipresent factors;(2) five object-ascertaining factors;(3) eleven wholesome factors;(4) six root defilements;(5) twenty lesser defilements;and (6) four variable factors. +
gtso sems;Main Mind;main mind;A technical term of Buddhist epistemology, referring to the consciousness that detects globally the presence of an object, while the different types of mental factors (''sems byung'') apprehend and react to particular aspects of that object. +
sku;Kaya;According to the teachings of the Mahayana, the transcendent reality of perfect buddhahood is described in terms of two, three, four, or five kayas, or bodies. The two bodies, in the first case, are the dharmakaya, the Body of Truth, and the rupakaya, the Body of Form. The dharmakaya is the absolute, "emptiness" aspect of buddhahood and is perceptible only to beings on that level. The rupakaya is subdivided (thus giving rise to three bodies) into the sambhogakaya, the Body of Perfect Enjoyment, and the nirmanakaya, the Body of Manifestation. The sambhogakaya, or the spontaneous clarity aspect of buddha hood, is perceptible only to highly realized beings. The nirmanakaya, the compassionate aspect, is perceptible to ordinary beings and appears in the world usually, though not necessarily, in human form. The system of four bodies consists of the three just described together with the svabhavikakaya, or Body of Suchness, which refers to the union of the previous three. When five bodies are mentioned, this means the first three kayas together with the Immutable Diamond (or Vajra) Body (the indestructible aspect of buddhahood) and the Body of Complete Enlightenment (the aspect of enlightened qualities). +
mchog glang;Dignaga;A disciple of Vasubandhu;one of the great figures in the Buddhist logical tradition and a formidable defender of Buddhist doctrines against Hindu opponents. Together with Dharmakirti, who appeared a generation later, he effected a far-reaching reform in Buddhist logic along epistemological lines. +
klong chen rab 'byams;Longchenpa,Longchen Rabjam;longchenpa,longchen rabjam;Longchen Rabjam (1308-1363) is regarded as the greatest genius of the Nyingma tradition, an incomparable master and author of over two hundred and fifty treatises. Longchenpa's wide-ranging commentaries cover the whole field of Sutra and Mantra, in particular the teachings of the Great Perfection, but also such topics as history and literature. +
khams;Dhatu;This term has a very wide range of meanings. In general, it refers to all the "elements" that the mind can consider or investigate-from the senses and their objects to the postmeditation experience of a Bodhisattva residing on the grounds of realization. +
sems tsam pa;Chittamatra;Also called Yogachara, this philosophical school of the Mahayana asserts the self-cognizing mind as the ultimate reality and identifies emptiness as the absence of the subject-object dualism that overspreads and obscures the underlying pure consciousness. Although this school is usually traced back to Asanga and his brother Vasubandhu (fourth century C.E.), who base themselves on the scriptures of the third turning of the Dharma wheel, such as the "Sandhinirmochana-sutra", the Chittamatra, as a tenet system, is more accurately associated with the sixthcentury master Dharmapala. +
