Property:Gloss-term
From Buddha-Nature
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khatvanga;The khatvanga staff is an ornament of many tantric deities. It is usually held in the crook of the left elbow. It represents the sacred consort, and the inseparability of wisdom and skillful means. The khatvanga is adorned with a five-pointed vajra and three severed heads: a freshly severed head, a dried head, and a skull. The five-pointed vajra symbolizes vanquishing the five poisons of pride, jealousy, greed, hatred, and ignorance, and the attainment of the five transcendent wisdoms. The three human heads represent attainment of the three kayas. +
bhikshu;A fully-ordained monk, one who has vowed to observe the 253 monastic precepts of the Vinaya. Today there is usually a waiting period between receiving novitiate ordination and full monastic ordination;but according to all the accounts, Gampopa received both novice and bhikshu ordination simultaneously. +
vajracharya;A vajra master, an accomplished master of both the theory and practice of Vajrayana teachings. +
buddha nature;buddha nature;The potential for enlightenment that is inherent in all sentient beings;the true nature of mind. +
Chod;chod;Literally, to cut. In the yogic context, it means to cut the basis of attachment to the illusion of a separate and inherently existing self through the ritual offering of one's body to all beings;and to cut the four maras in particular.
:The Chod practice is based upon the revelations of the ''Prajnaparamita Sutras''. It was introduced into Tibet by the Indian guru Phadampa Sangye, and was developed by his chief Tibetan disciple, the great Tibetan yogini Machig Labdron. Machig Labdron became so renowned that students and teachers travelled from India to Tibet to receive her Chod teachings.
:Because of the shamanistic character of the Chod practice, some have speculated that it was adopted from Bon, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet. However, according to Lopon Tenzin Namdak, the current head of the Bonpo tradition, they also learned Chod from Phadampa Sangye, and made it a part of their tradition at the same time as the Buddhists. +
samaya;Sacred vow or commitment. At each level of entry into the Buddhist path there are specific commitments which one vows to uphold. There is refuge ordination, the five lay precepts, the bodhisattva vow, monastic ordination, and tantra, and each stage has specific samayas. Also, when one receives tantric initiation from a vajra master into the mandala of a particular deity, one often receives a specific samaya associated with that practice. In general, the samaya of the Hinayana is to cause no harm to any sentient being;for the Mahayana the sa maya is to help all sentient beings;for the Vajrayana the samaya is to retain sacred outlook. The most important samaya in tantra is to retain a pure relationship with one's guru. +
Mon;mon;is a place at the border of Tibet and Bhutan. +
shamatha;Calm abiding. The meditation practice of calming the mind so that it can focus unwaveringly on the object of meditation. There are nine levels of shamatha, which prepare one for the practice of vipashyana or insight meditation. +
yogi;yogin;A male yoga practitioner. In Tibet, the term yogi is often used to contrast a lay practitioner from an ordained monk. Also, since yogi can sometimes mean someone who is practicing the higher yogas, which ultimately involve taking on a sexual consort, the term yogi was often used to designate married lamas and practitioners, in contrast to celibate monks. In its general sense, however, a yogi is anyone who practices yoga, so a monk can also be called a yogi. +
tulku;tulku;Incarnate lamas who have voluntarily taken human birth in fulfillment of their bodhisattva vows to help beings. The power to determine one's rebirth is gained upon attainment of the eighth stage of a bodhisattva. +
bodhisattva posture;bodhisattva posture;The meditation position where the legs are loosely crossed, with the left leg drawn up close (symbolizing control of sexual energy), and the right leg slightly out in front (symbolizing the readiness to act for the benefit of sentient beings). bodhisattva stages There are ten bodhisattva stages or bhumis: (1) The Joyous;(2) The Stainless;(3) The Radiant;(4) The Brilliant;(5) The Hard to Conquer;(6) The Realized;(7) The Reaching Far;(8) The Unshakable;(9) The Good Intelligence;(10) The Cloud of Dharma. At each stage, more defilements and obscurations are purified, and more enlightened qualities are manifested. The first six stages correspond to the realization of the six paramitas, and the last four to refinement of the perfection of wisdom (prajna paramita). The ten stages are progressive, but do not always occur in a linear fashion. Beyond the tenth stage is complete awakening, buddhahood. +
kapala;cup or bowl made of a human skull. Used in Vajrayana ritual, the kapala has numerous levels of symbolism. On one level it is a reminder of inevitable death, and goads one to use one's time to practice the Dharma fervently. On a higher level it leads one to transcend one's dualistic concepts of pure or impure, clean or unclean, good and evil. +
lama;lama;The term "lama" can apply to both monastic and lay teachers. It has the meaning of "teacher-mother," implying that the teacher who gives spiritual teachings that can guide one to Buddhahood is showing kindness as great as one's mother. In the Kagyu tradition it is a title usually reserved for those who have completed the traditional three-year, three-month, and three-day retreat. +
sangha;Sangha means the "excellent community." In the early days of Buddhism, the term was only applied to the ordained community of monks and nuns. It was later expanded to include lay disciples who had taken refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. In the Mahayana teachings, it can also be applied to include the mahasangha or "great community" of all sentient beings, in much the same sense that Native Americans refer to the myriad forms of creation as "all my relations." +
four initiations;four initiations;The four initiations are the four major empowerments given within a tantric initiation: (1) the vase empowerment, blessing one's body to become Buddha's body, and planting the seed to realize the nirmanakaya;(2) the secret empowerment, blessing one's speech to become Buddha's speech, and planting the seed to attain the sambhogakaya;(3) the wisdom empowerment, blessing one's mind to become Buddha's mind, and planting the seed to realize the dharmakaya;(4) the precious word empowerment, blessing one's body, speech, and mind to become inseparable from the state of Vajradhara, and planting the seed to realize the svabhavikakaya, the ultimate realization of suchness. +
twelve links of interdependent origination;twelve links of interdependent origination;These "twelve nidanas" describe the nature of samsara as well as its cause. The twelve nidanas are: (1) fundamental ignorance, (2) karmic formations or impulsive accumulations, (3) [dualistic] consciousness, (4) name and form, (5) sense consciousness, (6) contact with the phenomenal world, (7) sensation or feeling, (8) craving [for experience], (9) grasping, (10) becoming, (11) birth, (12) aging and death. +
Hindu mythology speaks of nine planets. Rahu is depicted as a demon whose head was severed from his body by Vishnu. These two parts of his body became the eighth and ninth planets, Rahu and Ketu. Rahu is the celestial body said to be responsible for eclipses by swallowing the sun and the moon. +
Medicine Buddha;medicine buddha;The buddha associated with healing, on both the spiritual and physical levels. He is blue in color, and holds a begging bowl full of medicine in his left hand, and a myrobalan (amra) flower in his right hand. +
Saltong Shogum;saltong shogum;One of Gampopa's foremost disciples, from Kham. Sal means "clear" and Tong is short for Tong Pa Nyid, meaning "emptiness," indicating that he was born with the realization of emptiness and clear luminosity. Shogum means "harelip," because he was born with a cleft palate. Saltong Shogum became the guru who founded the Traleg Kyabgon line of tulkus, the supreme abbots of Thrangu Monastery in Kham. +
