Property:Gloss-def
From Buddha-Nature
This is a property of type Text.
T
These are the signs, or marks, of a great being. There are thirty-two primary and eighty secondary features. The Buddha is said to have had all these features, such as the mark of wheels on the soles of his feet. There were also 216 birthmarks that were considered as "auspicious signs." In the Vajrayāna, they are said to be possessed by all the deities. +
Our present age, the fourth of four ages, when the teachings of the Buddha have degenerated, realizations have become difficult to attain, and lifespans have become relatively short +
"Noble one." This term is applied to those who have reached the path of seeing on whichever vehicle they follow. In terms of the Mahayana path it is synonymous with bodhisattvas. +
Literally, "highest." This is the highest paradise in the form realm and thus the highest physical residence in samsara. It became further elevated in the yoga tantras as the abode of Vairocana and the source of the yoga tantras. In the highest yoga tantras it is the abode of the ultimate Buddha Vajradhara and is entirely outside samsara. +
Transliterated into Tibetan as there was no equivalent Tibetan word, in India it has been used for a variety of flowers, but in Tibet it is usually taken to refer to the blue lotus''' (''Nymphaea caerulea'') +
The Buddha, the "sage of the Śākyas." As the Buddha was from the Śākya clan and had gained enlightenment through his own contemplation, he became known as the muni of Śākya, or Śākyamuni +
More fully known as the four truths of the noble ones. These are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path to that cessation +
Buddhavacana, the "word of the Buddha," is the term for the texts represented in the Kangyur. Although all these teachings are not represented as being taught by him directly, they nevertheless express his viewpoint +
"Middle Way." Here it does not mean the middle way between asceticism and hedonism as propounded in early Buddhism but the middle way between existence and nonexistence, particularly as advanced in the philosophical tradition descending from Nāgārjuna. Schools of Tibetan Buddhism differ on the exact interpretation of the Madhyamaka view, but the Kagyü school takes literally the teaching that all phenomena are neither existent nor nonexistent +
The Tibetan means "clear light," whereas the Sanskrit may more correctly be translated as "brightness." Luminosity is too soft a word, but it has gained common usage to describe this vivid aspect of the nature of the mind in contradistinction to its emptiness +
"The yāna of the [six] perfections" is an alternative name for the Mahayanas sutra tradition +
These are texts and practices based upon the Mahāvairocana Sutra, popularly known as the Mahāvairocana Tantra. This is important for the Chinese and Japanese tantric traditions. In contemporary Tibetan Buddhism, performance tantra is primarily represented by the practice of Sarvavid Vairocana but is considered inferior in praxis and view to the higher tantras +
The five texts attributed to him are held in great reverence and are precursors to the philosophy developed and propounded by Asańga and Vasubandhu and their Cittamātra tradition +
The separate collections of the Buddhas teachings, originally Sutra, Vinaya, and Mātrka. The latter evolved into the Abhidharma, although the Tibetan tradition, following the Sautrāntika view on the noncanonical status of the Abhidharma texts, does not have an Abhidharma section in the Kangyur +
A mind intent on achieving enlightenment for the sake of others. +
The "Great Vehicle" Buddhist traditions, associated with the '''Bodhisattva''' vow, practiced today in Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam. +
Seventh-century Indian Buddhist philosopher, famous for his development of the '''Middle Way''' school first systematized by '''Nagarjuna'''. +
Sacred syllable used in recitation and other ritual practices. +
Consort and teacher of Yeshey Tsogyel, and a founding figure of Buddhist '''Great Completeness''' traditions in Tibet. +
Regarded as the highest practice by both '''Nyingma''' Buddhist and '''Bön''' practitioners. +
