སྦྱངས་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་བཅུ་གཉིས། | Glossary of Terms

The twelve ascetic practices comprise wearing clothing from a dust heap, owning only three robes, wearing felt or woolen clothes, begging for food, eating one’s meal at a single sitting, restricting the quantity of food, staying in solitude, sitting under trees, sitting in exposed places, sitting in charnel grounds, sitting even during sleep, and staying wherever one happens to be.

These consist of (1) wearing rags (pāṃśukūlika, phyag dar khrod pa), (2) (in the form of only) three religious robes (traicīvarika, chos gos gsum), (3) (coarse in texture as) garments of felt (nāma[n]tika, ’phyings pa pa), (4) eating by alms (paiṇḍapātika, bsod snyoms pa), (5) having a single mat to sit on (aikāsanika, stan gcig pa), (6) not eating after noon (khalu paścād bhaktika, zas phyis mi len pa), (7) living alone in the forest (āraṇyaka, dgon pa pa), (8) living at the base of a tree (vṛkṣamūlika, shing drungs pa), (9) living in the open (not under a roof) (ābhyavakāśika, bla gab med pa), (10) frequenting burning grounds (Indian equivalent of cemeteries) (śmāśānika, dur khrod pa), (11) sleeping sitting up (in meditative posture) (naiṣadika, cog bu pa), and (12) accepting whatever seating position is offered (yāthāsaṃstarika, gzhi ji bzhin pa). Mahāvyutpatti, 1127-39.

The twelve ascetic virtues comprise wearing clothing from a dust heap, owning only three robes, wearing felt or woolen clothes, begging for food, eating one’s meal at a single sitting, restricting the quantity of food, staying in solitude, sitting under trees, sitting in exposed places, sitting in charnel grounds, sitting even during sleep, and staying wherever one happens to be.

For the Sanskrit and Tibetan terms, see Mahā­vyutpatti 127–39; also Dudjom Rinpoche (1991), vol. 2: 169.

Twelve ascetic practices that renunciants may choose to engage in, they are wearing clothing from a dust heap, owning only three robes, wearing felt or woolen clothes, begging for food, eating one’s meal in a single sitting, restricting the quantity of food, staying in solitude, sitting under trees, sitting in exposed places, sitting in charnel grounds, sitting even during sleep, and staying wherever one happens to be.