Property:Gloss-def
From Buddha-Nature
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The Vajrayāna practitioner's personal or guardian deity. That special deity to whom one's mind is bound. +
The term used to characterize the ''summum bonum'' of Mahāyāna Buddhist practice. +
The eighth-century Indian ''siddha'' usually credited with having established Buddhism in Tibet. Together with the Indian monk-scholar Śāntirakṣita, he founded the earliest order of Buddhism in Tibet, the Nyingmapa. +
Known as the "Diamond Sow," Vajravātāhi is the female deity who, as insight incarnate, functions to destroy ignorance, symbolized by the pig's head. She is alternately referred to as "Vajrayogini." +
A superior teacher. See entry for "guru." +
The central channel, or vein, of the arcane body generated by the tantric adept. +
Oral instruction communicated directly from guru to disciple. An alternate Tibetan term is ''man ṅag''. +
Literally, "Diamond Yogic Practitioner," Vajrayoginī is the female deity who is the chief consort of Lord Cakrasaṃvara. The name "Vajravārāhī" is used to emphasize her ''function'', which is to destroy the ignorance of holding the view of an inherently existent "I," while the name "Vajrayogini" is used to indicate her ''essence'', which is the insight that cognizes the inseparability of bliss and voidness. +
Literally, "toward individual liberation." The term is used to designate that set of vows enjoined by the ''Vinaya'' upon Buddhist monks and nuns seeking liberation from ''saṃsāra''. +
The central deity of the tantra of the same name. This tantra, which is also known as the "King of all Tantras," is one of the so-called "father tantras" (''pha rgyud'') of the highest (''bla na med rgyud'') class of tantras, wherein generation of the "illusory body" is given preference over the development of the "clear light" yogas. +
A major "protective deity" (''mgon po''), Mahākāla is black in color and wrathful in form. He is thought of as the wrathful aspect of compassion and appears in numerous iconographic forms. While he is mentioned in all of the accounts herein, he was especially important to Gyelwa Ensapa. +
The so-called "super-knowledges" or miraculous powers mentioned in the early Pali literature and carried over into the Mahayana. A bodhisattva is said to acquire these five (or six) powers, defined as: (1) supernal vision, (2) supernal hearing, (3) the ability to read others' thoughts, (4) the ability to see the arising and passing away of others, (5) the ability to work wonders (''ṛddhi'') of transformation and creation, and (6) the ability to see the destruction of all the negative "outflows" (''āsravas''). +
An important late fourth-century text attributed to Maitreya. +
Literally, "three bodies." This term refers to the Three Bodies of Buddhahood: the Dharmakāya (Tib. ''chos kyi sku'') or "Body of Truth," which is enlightenment itself; the Saṃbhogakāya (Tib. ''loṅs spyod rdzogs sku'') or "Enjoyment Body"; and the Nirmāṇakāya (Tib. ''sprul pa'i sku''), that body magically created in order to instruct beings, which is called the "Emanation Body." +
The quintessential teaching of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The theory of voidness. The characterization of the ultimate state of things as being devoid of an abiding "self" or essential nature. +
Literally, a "greatly learned one." Used as an honorific. +
In Buddhism, the "three most precious jewels," namely: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. +
Literally, "path," here the term refers to the Buddhist path. +
The Buddhist vow and ritual of fasting and other forms of abstinence for a prescribed period of time. +
