Property:Gloss-term
From Buddha-Nature
This is a property of type Text.
T
''See'' shamatha. +
prajnaparamita;The last and highest of the six ''paramitas'', or perfections. +
roots,the three;roots,the three;The three special refuges of Vajrayana practitioners. These include the guru who is the root of blessings;the ''yidam'' who is the root of accomplishment;and the dharma protectors (''dharmapalas'') or ''dakinis'' who are the root of enlightened action. +
vipashyana;lhagthong;lhagthong;Insight practice. ''Vipashyana'' literally means "extraordinary seeing" and refers to the experience of "seeing things as they are." At the Hinayana level, ''vipashyana'' refers to seeing that there is no substantial and continuous "self," only the five ''skandhas''. At the Mahayana level, ''vipashyana'' refers to the direct, nonconceptual experience of the emptiness of all phenomena. ''Shamatha'' (tending to mental stabilization) provides the ground for the arising of ''vipashyana''. +
eight worldly dharmas;eight worldly dharmas;The eight worldly ways of judging and discriminating experience that create karma and perpetuate our entrapment in samsara. These include gain and loss, fame and ill-repute, praise and blame, and pleasure and pain. Each of the eight worldly dharmas arises as a function of belief in a "self" that we are trying to maintain and protect. +
wish-fulfilling jewel;wish-fulfilling jewel;A fabulous mythological gem that was reputed to produce for its owner any benefit desired. In Buddhism, the wish-fulfilling gem came to symbolize the buddha-nature itself, which, once realized, brings through its wisdom, compassion, and power any and every fulfillment desired by the practitioner. +
Mahayana;The "great vehicle," the genre of Buddhism practiced in Tibet. ''See'' three yanas. +
yidam;yidam;The meditational tutelary deity that embodies a practitioner's enlightened being. Through meditating on the ''yidam'', the practitioner is enabled gradually to disengage from his or her illusory, personal "self" and identify more and more fully with the buddha-nature within. Each Tibetan school has its most characteristic ''yidams'', upon which most members of the school will meditate at one time or another. In addition, practitioners are often given a specific ''yidam'' that most closely reflects their own as yet hidden enlightened qualities.<br>Tantric meditation on the ''yidam'' typically contains two phases, ''utpattikrama'' (the stage of generation) and ''sampannakrama'' (the stage of completion). In the first, one visualizes the deity with all of his or her accoutrements and performs various ritual activities, including refuge, generation of ''bodhichitta'', confession of misdeeds, offerings, and praises, culminating in visualizing oneself as the ''yidam'' and reciting his or her mantra. In the completion stage, one dissolves the visualization and rests one's mind in emptiness, realizing the inborn wisdom that is immaculate and out of which all phenomena arise. +
root guru;root guru;One's principal teacher. ''See also'' guru. +
six classes of beings;six classes of beings;The beings who live in the six realms of samsara. ''See also'' samsara. +
Sakya;sakya;One of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya school has origins in the teachings of the Indian ''mahasiddha'' Virupa (ninth or tenth century) and was brought to Tibet by the Tibetan Drokmi (993-1077). The Sakya school is particularly renowned for its ''lamdre'' (path and fruit) teachings that combine Mahayana and Vajrayana into a unified synthesis. +
Tantrayana;another name for Vajrayana. +
six realms;six realms;The various possible states of existence within samsara. +
wheel of dharma;wheel of dharma;'See'' dharmachakra. +
tummo;tummo;The "inner fire" that is aroused in the practice of the inner yogas, an important domain of practice in Tibetan Buddhism. +
three poisons;three poisons;The three primary ''kleshas'' of greed, hatred, and ignorance. +
Padmasambhava;The Indian ''siddha'' who brought Vajrayana Buddhism for the first time to Tibet, in the eighth century CE. His traditional biography says that he was miraculously born in a lotus, adopted by king Indrabhuti in Northwest India, and brought up as a prince. His unconventional behavior led to banishment, and he spent the rest of his life roaming the charnel grounds, jungles, and wastelands, learning from ''dakinis'' both human and superhuman, and practicing the tantric teachings. During his wanderings, he met and trained many disciples. At the request of the Tibetan king Trisong Detsen, Padmasambhava went to Tibet and was instrumental in the establishment of Buddhism there. He is considered the founder of the Nyingma tradition and also its principal guru, and many liturgies and meditations invoke his presence and request his blessings. +
mahasiddha;the designation given to those Vajrayana practitioners in India who were considered to have attained the complete perfection of enlightenment. The ''mahasiddhas'' were people from all castes and walks of life who followed a tantric guru, practiced meditation intensively, attained realization, and themselves became gurus to others. In the tradition, a group of eighty-four ''mahasiddhas'' was especially well known, all of whom are reputed to have lived in India between the eighth and the twelfth centuries. +
Saraha;One of the eighty-four ''mahasiddhas'' or enlightened tantric masters. Saraha is known in Tibetan Buddhism as the "grandfather of the ''siddhas''," indicating a belief that his life falls rather at the beginning of the tradition of ''mahasiddhas''. He is particularly known for his instruction on Mahamudra, given in ''dohas'' (collections of realization songs). +
mngon shes lnga;Five Kinds Of Preternatural Knowledge;five kinds of preternatural knowledge;These are: (1) the knowledge and ability to perform wonders;(2) the knowledge of births and deaths of all beings;(3) the ability to hear all sounds throughout the three-thousandfold universe;(4) the knowledge of one's own and others' past lives;and (5) the knowledge of the minds of others. +
