Property:Gloss-def
From Buddha-Nature
This is a property of type Text.
T
An individual who reincarnates consciously with the motivation to take rebirth in order to benefit others. +
The recitation of a text aloud, which sustains the flow of the transmission. The resonant words bring the blessing of the practice and a connection with the masters of the past from the one who has heard to the one who is listening. Reading transmissions are given for specific practices, mantras, practice manuals, philosophical texts, and other treatises. +
Usually translated as "continuum" or "thread," tantra is synonymous with the Vajrayana or Secret Mantrayana and can also refer to a text that presents these teachings or practices. The translation "continuum" points to the continuity of mind's nature in the beginning as the ground, in the middle along the path, and at the end when it fully manifests as the fruition. +
An initiation, usually given in a formal ceremony by a lama to disciples, transferring the authority to engage in a particular practice. A simple form conveys the blessing of the body, speech, and mind of the deity to the disciple's body, speech, and mind with the instruction to regard all forms as the deity, all sounds as mantra, and all thoughts as wisdom. +
The recorded words of Shakyamuni Buddha, the Kangyur is found in many editions and numbers about 100 volumes containing 700 to 800 texts. Along with theTengyur (q.v.), it forms the central corpus of Buddhist texts in the Tibetan tradition. +
Literally, "precious one," an honorific given to all reincarnate lamas and also sometimes to exceptional teachers who have attained a high level of realization. When disciples use the term in relation to their lama, it conveys a sense of deep respect along with the warmth of a special connection. +
The red Buddha who presides over Sukhavati, the pure land in the west, which is uniquely accessible to humans due to his particular aspirations. He is the focus for the practice of transferring consciousness at death and of ceremonies for those who have died. +
The Great (maha) Seal (mudra) is the supreme practice in the Kagyu lineage. Its practices lead to a recognition of the nature of the mind, which is often defined as the union of bliss and emptiness. Describing this practice in ''Mahamudra: The Ocean of Definitive Meaning'', the great Indian adept Maitripa (1012-1097) states, "All phenomena are empty of self-essence. / The mind grasping them as empty is purified into its ground. / Free of intellect, with no object for the mind, / This is the path of all Buddhas." +
The central temple in Lhasa and the most sacred in all of Tibet, the Jokhang was established by King Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century and enshrines the famous statue of the Buddha, the Jowo Rinpoche (q.v.). +
The second of the three sections (along with the vinaya and abhidharma) of the tripitaka, the early compilation of the Buddha's teachings. More generally, a sutra is a text containing the discourses of Shakyamuni Buddha or those inspired by him. Sutras are often in the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and a disciple on a particular topic. Within discussions of philosophical view, the sutra approach refers to a gradual path to enlightenment, as distinguished from the swift path of the Vajrayana. +
A feminine figure who ranges in meaning from a worldly deity with a variety of functions to an enlightened embodiment of wisdom. +
The pure land of Chenrezik and, by extension, the residence of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa. +
The main seat of the Karmapas in Tibet, located in the Tölung Valley about twenty miles west of Lhasa. +
Venerated by the Tibetans as the Second Buddha, Guru Rinpoche ("Precious Master") was invited from India to Tibet in the ninth century. By subjugating negative forces, he established Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet and hid numerous terma (q.v.) throughout the Himalayan region for the sake of future generations. +
The term can refer to an instance of valid cognition or to the whole system of dialectics, which is a central part of the curriculum of higher Buddhist studies. It is considered a path to valid knowledge and is usually divided into three types: direct, inferential, and scriptural. +
"The One Holding a Vajra" and embodying the ultimate, the dharmakaya. Usually depicted as deep blue and holding a bell and dorje crossed over his heart. +
One of the two Madhyamaka schools, the Shentong sees the fully awakened mind as resplendent with positive qualities and asserts that the buddha nature is present within all beings at the beginning of the path and becomes manifest at enlightenment through practices along the path that remove veils obscuring what was always there. Hence its name, which translates as "empty of what is other to it": the nature of mind itself is free of and unaffected by temporary, adventitious stains. ''See also'' Rangtong. +
A minister in the government. +
Translated as "the Autonomy school," since it propounds the use of independent syllogisms to enable an individual to see that phenomena are not inherently existent and, further, that their true nature is emptiness. It belongs to the Rangtong school of the Madhyamaka tradition. +
A synonym for the Vajrayana. +
