Property:Gloss-def
From Buddha-Nature
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One formally becomes a Buddhist when one takes refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha as the teacher or guide, the Dharma as the teaching or path, and the Sangha or excellent community as one's companions on the journey. In tantra, one adds taking refuge in the Three Roots: the guru as the root of all blessings, the yidam or meditational deity as the root of all attainment, and the dharmapalas or protector deities as the root of all enlightened activity. +
Vows, taken by lay-people, to refrain from: (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) lying, (4) sexual misconduct, and (5) alcohol and intoxicating drugs. +
A ritual offering cake made of tsampa (roasted barley flour) and butter, and presented as an offering to deities and Dharma protectors. There are simple and elaborate tormas, some painted and some plain, with varied shapes and designs depending on their purpose. +
Tibetan barley beer. +
Produced together, co-emergent wisdom. As Keith Dowman explains this term, "From the beginning the ultimate and relative, the male and female principles, form and emptiness, have arisen simultaneously; the inborn absolute [i.e. sahaja] is inherent in every instant of sensory experience, and it remains for the sadhaka to recognize it. However, this is not so easy as the degenerate, latter-day Bengali sahaja-yogi school with its concepts of 'natural enlightenment' and 'no practice' would believe; such notions make mockery of the siddha's sadhanas." (''Masters of Mahamudra'', pp. 421-422) +
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. +
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. +
A vajra master, an accomplished master of both the theory and practice of Vajrayana teachings. +
The potential for enlightenment that is inherent in all sentient beings; the true nature of mind. +
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. +
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. +
is a place at the border of Tibet and Bhutan. +
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. +
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. +
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. +
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. +
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. +
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 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." +
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. +
