rnam rtog;རྣམ་རྟོག་;concept/conceptual thought;concept/conceptual thought;vikalpa;The constructive mental activity that dominates the inner life of sentient beings and obstructs them from seeing things as they really are. Like ''elaboration'', it involves a process of ''superimposition'' on reality that must be eliminated before ''enlightenment'' can be attained. +
mdo sde pa;མདོ་སྡེ་པ་;Sautrāntika;According to Tibetan traditions, one of the two major ''Hinayana'' philosophical schools. Ontologically, Sautrāntikas subscribe to a doctrine of radical momentariness and accept some ''dharmas'' as real and others as conceptual;epistemologically, they assert a representational realism. Vasubandhu s ''Autocommentary on the Treasury of Higher Knowledge'' reflects Sautrāntika views, as do some of the writings of Dignāga and Dharmakīrti. +
ma rgyud;མ་རྒྱུད་;mother tantra;mother tantra;In the four-''tantra'' scheme recognized by most Tibetan ''new translation schools'', one of two major types of tantra in the ''highest yoga tantra'' class. Mother tantras (also known as wisdom or yogin* tantras) are said particularly to stress development of the ''clear-light'' wisdom that is inseparable from great bliss. The primary mother-tantra practices are the Hevajra, Cakrasamvara, and Kālacakra, with Vajrayoginl and Vajravārāhī having great importance, too. +
mi 'jigs pa bzhi;མི་འཇིགས་པ་བཞི་;four fearlessnesses;four fearlessnesses;A buddhas fearlessness regarding: knowledge of all things, knowledge of the cessation of all affliction, the declaration that path obstructions do not recur, and the fact that the path of renunciation has been realized. +
phyag rgya chen po;ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་;Mahāmudrā;Originally part of a system of three or four tantric seals, the “great seal” is synonymous with ''inter alia, buddhahood, buddha nature'', and the ''emptiness'' that “seals” all ''dharmas''. Among the Kagyüpa (and Gclukpa) in Tibet, it also refers to a system of meditation, with both ''sutra'' and ''tantra'' versions, in which one meditates on the true nature of the mind. +
rig 'dzin;རིག་འཛིན་;tantric master;tantric master;vidyādhara;Literally, a “knowledge holder” or “spdl possessor. In India, the term has connotations of “wizard” or “sorcerer,” while in Tibet it generally refers to a ''secret-mantra vehicle'' practitioner of great proficiency, somewhat akin to an ''adept''. +
bar do;བར་དོ་;antarabhāva;bardo;bardo;Broadly speaking, any interval, but used most commonly to refer to the period, no longer than forty-nine days, that occurs between death and a subsequent rebirth. During this period, mourning rituals are conducted, and the ''liberation'' of the mind still may be effected. +
phyi dar;ཕྱི་དར་;later spread of the teaching;later spread of the teaching;In traditional Tibetan historiography, the period from approximately 950 to 1300, during which Buddhist institutions and practices were revived in Tibet after the chaos ensuing from the collapse of the empire around 850. Many new Indian Buddhists texts were introduced and new translations undertaken. Traditions traced to the later spread include the Kadam, Kagyü, Sakya, Shijé, and Geluk. +
bar do drug;བར་དོ་དྲུག་;six bardos;six bardos;This life, the stages of dying, the dharmadhātu, becoming" one’s next rebirth, dreaming, and meditative absorption. +
sgrub pa sde bdun;སྒྲུབ་པ་སྡེ་བདུན་;seven yogic attainment texts;seven yogic attainment texts;Padmavajra's ''Secret Yogic Attainment'', Anaṅgavajras ''Yogic Attainment Ascertaining Wisdom and Means'', Indrabhūti's ''Yogic Attainment of Gnosis'', Laksmīṅkarās ''Yogic Attainment of Nonduality'', Dārikapa's ''Special Instruction on the Reality of the Greatest Secret'', Yoginī Cintā's ''Yogic Attainment of Reality Following the Clarification of Entities'', and Ḍombi Heruka's ''Yogic Attainment of the Innate.'' +
lcags rii phyir mi ’da’ bai gser chos bcu gsum;ལྕགས་རིའི་ཕྱིར་མི་འདའ་བའི་གསེར་ཆོས་བཅུ་གསུམ་;thirteen golden Dharmas not allowed outside the fence;thirteen golden dharmas not allowed outside the fence;See ''thirteen golden Dharmas of the Tsar-system Lamdré''. +
man ngag;མན་ངག་;special instruction;special instruction;upadeśa;Like ''guidelines, praxis'', and ''instructions'', a pithy, esoteric, and highly important set of teachings imparted by a master to a disciple or disciples. In most Tibetan traditions, special instructions are regarded as the most vital teachings of all. +
po ti lnga;པོ་ཏི་ལྔ་;five root texts;five root texts;The five basic texts of the Geluk monastic educational system: Candrakīrtis ''Entering the Middle Way'' (for Madhyamaka), Dharmakīrti's ''Thorough Exposition of Valid Cognition'' (for valid cognition), Maitreya's ''Ornament of Higher Realization'' (for perfection of wisdom), Guṇaprabhas ''Vinaya Sutra'' (for vinaya), and Vasubandhus'' Treasury of Higher Knowledge'' (for Abhidharma). +
sde snod gsum;སྡེ་སྣོད་གསུམ་;Tripiṭaka;The basic threefold collection of Buddhist canonical scriptures, divided into ''vinaya, sutra'', and ''abhidharma''. This organization of scriptures is most applicable in the cases of the Pali and other ''Hinayana'' canons;the Tibetan and Chinese Tripiṭakas are organized along rather different lines. +