The Gold Sūtra
Acknowledgements

The Buddha’s cousin and principal attendant, who is said to have memorized the sūtras.

A wealthy layman and famous benefactor of the Buddha who purchased the Jetavana and donated it to the Buddhist community.

One of the six classes of sentient beings. The asuras are dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility and are incessantly embroiled in disputes with the gods. They are frequently portrayed in brahmanical and Buddhist mythology as having a disruptive effect on cosmological and social harmony.

In Buddhist literature, an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

A class of generally benevolent semidivine beings who inhabit the sky and are most renowned as celestial musicians.

“Prince Jeta’s Grove,” a grove near Śrāvastī that was given to the Buddha by the householder Anātha­piṇḍada. The Buddha is said to have spent most rainy seasons there, and it is therefore the setting for many discourses.

The intent at heart of the Great Vehicle, namely to obtain buddhahood in order to liberate all beings from suffering. In its relative aspect, it is both this aspiration and the practices towards buddhahood. In its absolute aspect, it is the realization of emptiness or the awakened mind itself.