ཆོས་ཉིད། | Glossary of Terms

Also rendered here as “nature of reality.”

A synonym of emptiness.

The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Throughout Buddhist discourse this term is used both in regard to the specific relative characteristics of phenomena, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, and in terms of their common ultimate characteristic, emptiness.

Lit. the “nature of phenomena” or “phenomena themselves.” The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms.

(Note that the term “reality” has also been used to render terms of similar meaning such as yang dag nyid and others.)

The true or real nature of phenomena.

Lit. the “nature of phenomena,” or “phenomena themselves.” The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Also rendered here as “nature” or “truth.”

Note that the term “reality” has also been used to render terms of similar meaning such as yang dag (nyid), as in “limit of reality” (yang dag pa’i mtha’).

Lit. the “nature of phenomena,” or “phenomena themselves.” The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Akin to other terms rendered here as thatness (tattva, de kho na nyid), true reality (bhūtatā, yang dag pa nyid), and suchness (tathatā, de bzhin nyid).

The intrinsic or real nature of phenomena.

The nature of the dharmas, or their state.

Literally the “nature of phenomena” or “phenomena themselves.” The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Akin to other terms such as thatness (tattva, de kho na nyid), true reality (bhūtatā, yang dag pa nyid), and suchness (tathatā, de bzhin nyid).

The condition of things as they truly are, undistorted by conceptual thinking.

See “true nature of dharmas.”

Also rendered here simply as “reality.”

Literally, the “nature of phenomena,” or “phenomena themselves.” The quality or condition of things as they really are, which eludes appropriation by conceptual thought.

The state of phenomena as they are according to the absolute truth.

“True nature of dharmas” renders dharmatā (chos nyid). In dharmatā the -tā ending is the English “-ness.” The dharma is an attribute of a dharmin (an “attribute possessor”). The attribute is the ultimate, emptiness. The attribute possessors are all phenomena. So, it means “the true nature [= -ness] of the attribute [emptiness].” The issue is further complicated by the widespread use of the word dharma as phenomenon (as in “all dharmas”) and so on. In such contexts it is not a word for the ultimate attribute, but for any phenomenon.

The nature of phenomena, in terms of their specialized relative characteristics, such as the heat of fire, the moisture of water, etc.; and in terms of their common ultimate quality, emptiness, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms.

“True nature of dharmas” renders dharmatā (chos nyid). In dharmatā the -tā ending is the English “-ness.” The dharma is an attribute of a dharmin (an “attribute possessor”). The attribute is the ultimate, emptiness. The attribute possessors are all phenomena. So, it means “the true nature [= -ness] of the attribute [emptiness].” The issue is further complicated by the widespread use of the word dharma as phenomenon (as in “all dharmas”) and so on. In such contexts it is not a word for the ultimate attribute, but for any phenomenon.

Also rendered here as “true dharmic nature” and simply as dharmatā.

The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Throughout Buddhist discourse this term is used both in regard to the specialized relative characteristics of phenomena, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, and in terms of their common ultimate characteristic, emptiness.

See “true nature of dharmas.”

See “true nature of dharmas.”

The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Throughout Buddhist discourse this term is used both in regard to the specialized relative characteristics of phenomena, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, and in terms of their common ultimate characteristic, emptiness.

The nature of phenomena, in terms of their specialized relative characteristics, such as the heat of fire, the moisture of water, etc.; and in terms of their common ultimate characteristic, emptiness.

See “true nature of dharmas.”

The nature of phenomena.