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དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་ངེས་པར་བསྟན་པ།

The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata

Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśa

འཕགས་པ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་ངེས་པར་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ་

’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying rje chen po nges par bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata”

Āryatathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 147

Degé Kangyur, vol. 57 (mdo sde, pa), folios 142.a–242.b.

Translated by Anne Burchardi
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2020
Current version v 1.2.13 (2021)
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Summary

s.1

The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata opens with the Buddha presiding over a large congregation of disciples at Vulture Peak. Entering a special state of meditative absorption, he magically displays a pavilion in the sky, attracting a vast audience of divine and human Dharma followers. At the request of the bodhisattva Dhāraṇīśvararāja, the Buddha gives a discourse on the qualities of bodhisattvas, which are specified as bodhisattva ornaments, illuminations, compassion, and activities. He also teaches about the compassionate awakening of tathāgatas and the scope of a tathāgata’s activities. At the request of a bodhisattva named Siṃhaketu, Dhāraṇīśvararāja then gives a discourse on eight dhāraṇīs, following which the Buddha explains the sources and functions of a dhāraṇī known as the jewel lamp. As the text concludes, various deities and Dharma protectors praise the sūtra’s qualities and vow to preserve and protect it in the future, and the Buddha entrusts the sūtra and its propagation to Dhāraṇīśvararāja. The sūtra is a particularly rich source of detail on the qualities of bodhisattvas and buddhas.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.1

This sūtra was translated by Anne Burchardi, with Dr. Ulrich Pagel acting as consultant. Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche, Jens Braarvig, and Tom Tillemans provided help and advice, and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche provided inspiration. Anne Burchardi introduced the text, the translation and introduction were edited by the 84000 editorial team.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous sponsorship of May and George Gu, made in memory of Frank ST Gu. Their support has helped make the work on this translation possible.

Introduction

The Text

i.1

The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata1 is an important early Great Vehicle sūtra, setting out some key features of the bodhisattva path in a doctrinally dense text that has been explored in later commentaries as an important source of clarification on the qualities that bodhisattvas develop as they progress to awakening, on the dhāraṇīs, and indirectly on the potential for buddhahood (buddhagotra) underlying their progress. No Sanskrit text of the sūtra has been found, but it survives in two Chinese translations and one Tibetan.

Outline of the Sūtra

The Sūtra’s Associations with Buddha Nature Literature

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata

The Great Assembly Chapter “Array of Ornaments”

[B1] [F.142.a]

1.1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling on Vulture Peak, near Rājagṛha, a sacred site blessed by tathāgatas, a great stūpa where previous victors dwelled. It is a Dharma seat praised by bodhisattvas and a place worshiped by gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and asuras that inspires toward roots of virtue. It is a site where tathāgatas appear and where gateways to the Dharma are promulgated, where bodhisattvas appear and where infinite qualities spring forth.

Chapter 2

2.1

After the Blessed One had surveyed the great assembly of bodhisattvas, he knew and rejoiced that the bodhisattvas who had assembled were holders of the treasure of the Tathāgata’s Dharma striving for righteousness.

2.2

In order for the Dharma discourse The Gateway to Unobstructed Deliverance through the Bodhisattva Way of Life to be explained, [F.157.b] a light known as fearless eloquence, the mark of a great being, emerged from the crown of his head.

Colophon

c.1

This text was translated and edited by the Indian preceptor Śīlendrabodhi and the principal editor-translator, Bandé Yeshé Dé. It was reviewed and finalized in accordance with the new language reforms.

Notes

n.1

This text is known by two different Sanskrit titles: Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśa (The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata) and Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (The Dhāraṇīśvararāja Sūtra).

n.2

Taishō 398 is Da ai jing (大哀經), and the overall title of Taishō 397 is Dafangdeng da ji jing (大方等大集經). The version of the sūtra in the latter appears to be the version referenced in the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā. A Japanese translation of Taishō 397 was published in 1934.

n.3

Denkarma, folio 297.a.6. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), pp. 56–57, no. 99.

n.4

Phangthangma, p. 8.

n.5

For information on the sections and the discourses of the sūtra see Pagel (2007b), pp. 92–96.

n.6

In addition to the best known references mentioned below, the sūtra is cited in the Madhyamakāvatāra (Toh 3861, see La Vallée Poussin 1907–12, p. 426) and in the Sūtrasamuccaya (see Pāsādika 1989, 30.6–32.7, 129.1–130.14).

n.7

The Ratnagotravibhāga (Toh 4024), also known from the other part of its title as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma, and the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā (Toh 4025) are to be found as Tibetan translations in the Tengyur. Tibetan translations of this text and its commentary were widely studied in Tibet, and the Ratnagotravibhāga still figures prominently in the curriculum of many Tibetan Buddhist monastic universities in exile, where it continues to be regarded as locus classicus for the study of buddha nature.

n.8

A recent English translation of the Ratnagotravibhāga, with the citation mentioned here as verse I.2, can be seen on the Tsadra Foundation’s Buddha-Nature site. As noted above in n.1, mentions and citations in the Ratnagotravibhāga and most of its commentaries refer to the Mahākaruṇānirdeśa by its alternative titles Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (The Sūtra of Dhāraṇīśvararāja, Tib. gzungs kyi rgyal po’i mdo or gzungs kyi dbang phyug rgyal po’i mdo), or Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchā (The Questions of Dhāraṇīśvararāja, Tib. dbang phyug rgyal pos zhus pa).

n.9

On the seven vajra topics see also Johnston (1950), 3.15–17; Takasaki (1966), pp. 32, 146 et passim; and Pagel (2007b).

n.10

That is, neither Tib. de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po (Skt. tathāgatagarbha) nor the near-equivalent Tib. bde bar gshegs pa’i snying po (Skt. *sugatagarbha) occur here. It is worth noting, however, that the related term “unbroken lineage of the Three Jewels” (Tib. dkon mchog gsum gyi rigs rgyun, Skt. *ratnatrayagotratantra) occurs several times in the sūtra. An abbreviated version, “potential of the Three Jewels” (Skt. ratnatrayagotra), is found in the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, 25.8–10. Note also that the term “potential of the Jewels” (Skt. ratnagotra) is contained in the title of the Ratnagotravibhāga. These are closely related to the term “lineage of the Three Jewels” (Skt. triratnavaṃśa), which is also found in Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, 24.16–17. Both ratnatrayagotra and triratnavaṃśa occur in the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā in the section on buddha activity, which follows the famous analogy of the cleansing of the beryl gem.

n.11

See Stearns (1999), p. 178, note 12.

n.12

See Hookham (1991), p. 267.

n.13

The Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā cites the cleansing of the gem (see Obermiller (1931), pp. 249–50, 119–20; Takasaki (1966), pp. 150–52) as well as the brief section that follows it describing tathāgata activity (see Obermiller (1931), pp. 283–84, 153–54 and Takasaki (1966), pp. 192–94).

n.14

See Buddhavacana Translation Group, trans., Unraveling the Intent, Toh 106 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha).

n.15

See Powers (1995), p. 141.

n.16

See, e.g., Burchardi (2006) for a provisional list of these commentaries.

n.17

See Brunnhölzl (2014).

n.18

See Mathes (2003 and 2008).

n.19

See Jens Braarvig and David Welsh, University of Oslo, trans. The Teaching of Akṣayamati, Toh 175 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha).

n.20

See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Ornament of the Light of Awareness that Enters the Domain of All Buddhas, Toh 100 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2015), and for an example of the parallels between these texts see n.33 On the recent research mentioned here, see Pagel (1994 and 1995) and Pagel and Braarvig (2006). Nakamura (1953), Ui (1959), and Takasaki (1974) had already noted the textual parallels between these four sūtras. Takasaki had proposed that the Akṣayamatinirdeśa (The Teaching of Akṣayamati, Toh 175) and this sūtra “produced the raw material for the Bodhisattvapiṭaka.” Twenty years later, however, Pagel found little to support this proposition. The direction of intertextual borrowing has still to be clarified, and the textual parallels may instead point to a common pre-canonical source, as suggested by Braarvig (1993).

n.21

See Pagel (2007a), pp. 168–69, 175–81.

n.22

This may refer to the teachings belonging to the paths of the śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva.

n.23

Tib. gru tshul chos la gnyis med par zhugs kyang rgyal ba mtshungs par mkhyen. The sense of this passage is unclear.

n.24

Tib. snrel zhi’i rgyud dang / spyi’u tshugs kyi rgyud thams cad dang. Here, the terms snrel zhi (Skt. vyatyasta) meaning “topsy-turvy” and spyi’u tshugs (Skt. ūrdhvapāda) meaning “having feet upward” are specified in Negi as names of certain mundane realms (Skt. lokadhātu), but further details are not provided. The terms also refer to related types of progression, i.e., nonsequential (or in mixed order) and upside-down (in reverse order), in the sequence of nine meditations, the four concentrations (Skt. dhyāna) belonging to the realm of forms, and the five meditative states (Skt. samāpatti) belonging to the formless realms. This seems to be the relevant understanding alluded to in this passage. See also the passage referenced by n.30. For further details and pertinent references, see Ruegg (1989).

n.25

Our translation of this line is tentative. We have added “what” to make it consistent with the line of questioning in the preceding two lines.

n.26

The Degé Kangyur has rkyen phye bar sgrub pa (“[how] conditions may be differently established”). The Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa Kangyurs have rkyen nye bar sgrub (“[how] conditions are established/concluded”). The Degé reading makes the best sense.

n.27

This may refer to the ninth of the nine concentrations (dhyāna), the state of cessation (nirodhasamāpatti) beyond feeling and perception. The line states, “Finally, it yields the nine and the concentrations of meditative absorption,” but has been reordered here to accord with this interpretation.

n.28

“One has” is added for context. The Tibetan lacks a grammatical subject and verb here.

n.29

Degé has chos kyi phung po ci bzhin phung po shes. Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa have ci zhig (“what”) instead of ci bzhin (“how”).

n.30

On the terms “nonsequential progression” and “reverse progression,” see n.24.

n.31

See n.24.

n.32

Literally, the Tibetan reads “this like this” (’di ’dra ’di).

n.33

The passage on awakening that starts here and continues down to 2.229 is closely paralleled in The Ornament of the Light of Awareness that Enters the Domain of All Buddhas (Sarvabuddhaviṣayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkāra, Toh 100) from 1.76 to 1.95. The differences are that the dialog here is not with Mañjuśrī, as it is in Toh 100, and that for each description of awakening here the Buddha adds a statement about compassion.

n.34

The passage on awakening that is paralleled in Toh 100 (see n.33) ends here.

n.35

thugs rje chen po la lta bas yongs su mi skyo ba. I take the la to be an ablative usage of la. Degé has yongs su skyo ba. Lhasa and Narthang have yongs su mi skyo ba, which has been followed here.

n.36

The section of the text that starts here has a parallel in the Bodhisattvapiṭaka. Our translation of this passage was facilitated by Jens Braarvig, who kindly made his translation of that work available.

n.37

Degé has skye dgu (where dgu is a pluralizer). Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa have skye bu.

n.38

The translation of these two lines is tentative.

n.39

Literally, “Vehicle of Conditions” (pratyāyayāna), a reference to the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle that derives from the understanding that pratyekabuddhas focus on the Dharma of dependent arising (pratītyasamutpāda) in order to understand the conditions of cyclic existence.

n.40

Here, “words” (Tib. sgra, Skt. śabda) is a pejorative allusion to the vocation of śrāvakas (“hearers”), who are said to be primarily concerned with listening to discourses.

n.41

The syntax of this passage is highly intricate, and the translation is somewhat tentative though its sense is relatively clear.

n.42

On this commonly cited analogy, see Higgins and Draszczyk (2016), vol. 2, p. 132, n. 326. The Tibetan term skyu ru ru (Skt. āmalaka/āmalakī) refers to an Indian gooseberry (Emblic myrobalan, Phyllanthus emblica), a translucent, pale green berry that has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine (usually prepared from the seeds) to cure diseases of phlegm, bile, and blood and to promote general physical health and calmness of mind (sattva). The term āmalaka also refers to a rock crystal (as attested by an alternative Tibetan translation shel sgong, “rock crystal”), likely named because it has a similar translucent property. The analogy of the Indian gooseberry placed in the palm of one’s hand has traditionally been used to illustrate either yogic perception where the clarity aspect (compared to a crystal) is emphasized (cf. Dharmottara’s Nyāyabinduṭīka 1.11) or omniscience, where seeing all aspects (presumably an analogy to seeing into the interior structure of the translucent berry) is emphasized (cf. * Ṡaḍaṅgayogapañjikā (Toh 1373, folio 244.b). For these two references, we are indebted, respectively, to contributions by Birgit Kellner (Austrian Academy of Sciences) and Péter Szántó (Leiden University) in an informative discussion thread on the Indology discussion forum entitled “An āmalakī in the palm of the hand.”

n.43

These four types of fearlessness are presented in sequence corresponding to numbers 11 to 15.

n.44

The three characteristics in this context are being born, being depleted, and enduring, as referenced above.

n.45

The term gding ba (Skt. āstaraṇa) means cushion or mat. The Tibetan term can be a variant of gdeng ba, meaning confidence.

n.46

The first two lines of this verse are not complete sentences, and there is no evident grammatical connection with the two lines that follow them.

n.47

“Threefold manner” probably refers here to the three aspects of time: past, present, and future.

n.48

The eight dhāraṇīs described here are listed among the twelve dhāraṇīs included in the Mahāvyutpatti (no. 748). Similar listings are found in the Ratnamegha (Toh 231) and the Tathāgataguṇajñānācintyaviṣayāvatāranirdeśa (Toh 185). For an informative discussion of these, see Pagel (2007a), pp. 151–91.

n.49

This fourth māra is usually identified as the divine māra (devapūtramāra) and associated with the hindrances of pride and self-gratification. The rendering of the unusual sde dang bcas pa’i bdud as “the māra of sectarianism” is tentative.

n.50

Prajñākūṭa’s name means “heap of insight.”

n.51

“False views” has been supplied for the sake of clarification. The term rab sreg (nirdahana), translated as “incineration,” typically refers to the burning away of false views.

n.52

We are unable to verify the identity of the seventh tathāgata.

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Nakamura, Hajime. “On the Jnāna-āloka-alaṃkāra-sūtra.” Journal of Nichiren and Buddhist Studies 100 (1953): 185–204.

Obermiller, Eugène. “The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation: Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism.” Acta Orientalia 9 (1931): 81–306.

Pagel, Ulrich (1994). “The Bodhisattvapiṭaka and Akṣayamatinirdeśa: Continuity and Change in Buddhist Sūtras.” In The Buddhist Forum III: Papers in honour and appreciation of Professor David Seyfort Ruegg’s contribution to Indological, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, edited by Ulrich Pagel and Tadeusz Skorupski, 333–73. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1994.

‍—‍—‍—(1995). The Bodhisattvapiṭaka: Its Dharmas, Practices and Their Position in Mahāyāna Literature. Tring: The Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1995.

‍—‍—‍—(2007a). “The Dhāraṇīs of Mahāvyutpatti #748: Origin and Formation.” Buddhist Studies Review 24, no. 2 (2007): 151–91.

‍—‍—‍—(2007b). Mapping the Path: Vajrapadas in Mahāyāna Literature. Studia Philologica Buddhica 21. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2007.

Pagel, Ulrich, and Braarvig, Jens. “Fragments of the Bodhisattvapiṭaka.” In Buddhist manuscripts, Volume III, edited by Jens Braarvig, 11–89. Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection. Oslo: Hermes Publishing, 2006.

Pāsādika, Bhikkhu, ed. Nāgārjuna’s Sūtrasamuccaya: A Critical Edition of the Mdo kun las btus pa. Fontes Tibetici Havnienses 2. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1989.

Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.

Powers, John. Wisdom of the Buddha: The Saṁdhinimocana Mahāyāna Sūtra. Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1995.

Ruegg, David Seyfort. Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective: On the Transmission and Reception of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religion 13. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1989.

Stearns, Cyrus. The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. Albany: SUNY Press, 1999.

Study Group on Buddhist Literature. Jñānālokālaṃkāra: Transliterated Sanskrit Text Collated with Tibetan and Chinese Translations. Tokyo: Taisho University Press, 2004.

Takasaki, Jikido (1974). Nyoraizō shiso nō keisei: Indo Daijō Bukkyō shisō kenkyū. [English title: Formation of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory: A Study of the Historical Background of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism Based upon the Scriptures Preceding the Ratnagotravibhāga]. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1974.

‍—‍—‍—(1966). A Study of the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra): Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Serie Orientale Roma 33. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1966.

Ui, Hakuju. Hōshōron Kenkyū. Daijī Bukkyō Kenkyū 6. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1959.

Glossary

g.1

Ābhāsvara

’od gsal

འོད་གསལ།

Ābhāsvara

Sixth god realm of form, meaning “luminosity,” it is the highest of the three heavens that make up the second dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.2

Abodes of Brahmā

tshangs pa’i gnas pa

ཚངས་པའི་གནས་པ།

brahmavihāra

The four abodes of Brahmā are loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, also known as the four “immeasurables.” The term is also rendered in this translation as “Brahmā abodes.”

g.3

Absorption

ting nge ’dzin

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

samādhi

g.4

Acceptance of reality

chos kyi bzod pa

ཆོས་ཀྱི་བཟོད་པ།

dharmakṣānti

Shorthand for anutpattikadharmakṣānti, “acceptance of the nonorigination of phenomena,” its realization being one of the qualities acquired by bodhisattvas. Dharmakṣanti can also refer to a way one becomes “receptive” to key points of the Dharma.

g.5

Action devoid of forgetfulness

brjed pa med par spyod pa

བརྗེད་པ་མེད་པར་སྤྱོད་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.6

Adorned by Ornaments

rgyan gyis brgyan pa

རྒྱན་གྱིས་བརྒྱན་པ།

A buddhafield at the zenith, where the Tathāgata Sovereign of Supreme Reverberating Sound resides.

g.7

Afflictive emotion

nyon mongs

ཉོན་མོངས།

kleśa

Mental and emotional traits that bind one to saṃsāra; the fundamental three are attachment, aversion, and delusion. Also translated here as “pollution.”

g.8

Aggregate

phung po

ཕུང་པོ།

skandha

g.9

Akaniṣṭha

’og min

འོག་མིན།

Akaniṣṭha

Seventeenth god realm of form, meaning “highest,” it is the highest of the five heavens that make up the “pure abodes” in the form realm.

g.10

All-Illumining and Unobstructed Gaze

kun nas snang zhing sgrib pa med par lta ba

ཀུན་ནས་སྣང་ཞིང་སྒྲིབ་པ་མེད་པར་ལྟ་བ།

A bodhisattva mahāsattva present in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.11

All-Revealing Continuous Display of All Buddhafields

zhing thams cad kyi rgyan bkod pa kun tu ston pa

ཞིང་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་རྒྱན་བཀོད་པ་ཀུན་ཏུ་སྟོན་པ།

A bodhisattva mahāsattva present in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.12

All-Revealing Unperturbed Subjugation through All Conduct

spyod lam thams cad kyis ’dul ba mi ’khrugs pa kun tu ston pa

སྤྱོད་ལམ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས་འདུལ་བ་མི་འཁྲུགས་པ་ཀུན་ཏུ་སྟོན་པ།

A bodhisattva mahāsattva present in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.13

Anabhraka

sprin med

སྤྲིན་མེད།

Anabhraka

Tenth god realm of form, meaning “cloudless,” it is the lowest of the three realms in the fourth dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.14

Appearance of the Sovereign of Water

chu’i rgyal por snang ba

ཆུའི་རྒྱལ་པོར་སྣང་བ།

The world realm of the Tathāgata Glory of Precious Blue Lotus.

g.15

Appearing as Illumination

rnam par snang byed du snang ba

རྣམ་པར་སྣང་བྱེད་དུ་སྣང་བ།

A buddhafield at the nadir where the Tathāgata Glory of the Precious Red Lotus resides.

g.16

Application of mindfulness

dran pa nye bar gzhag pa

དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།

smṛtyupasthāna

Four contemplations on the body, sensation, mind, and phenomena.

g.17

Appropriation

len pa
nye bar len pa

ལེན་པ།
ཉེ་བར་ལེན་པ།

ādana
upādana

Ninth of the twelve links of dependent arising. For the four appropriations, see 2.225.

g.18

Apramāṇābha

tshad med ’od

ཚད་མེད་འོད།

Apramāṇābha

Fifth god realm of form, meaning “Immeasurable Light,” it is the second of the three heavens that make up the second dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.19

Apramāṇaśubha

tshad med dge

ཚད་མེད་དགེ

Apramāṇaśubha

Eighth god realm of form, meaning “Limitless Virtue,” it is the second of the three heavens that make up the third dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.20

Arhat

dgra bcom pa

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།

arhat

One who has achieved the fourth and final level of attainment on the śrāvaka path and who has attained liberation with the cessation of all afflictive emotions.

g.21

Array of all ornaments

rgyan thams cad bkod pa

རྒྱན་ཐམས་ཅད་བཀོད་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.22

Array of buddha ornaments

sangs rgyas kyi rgyan bkod pa

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་རྒྱན་བཀོད་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.23

Asaṃjñisattva

’du shes med pa’i sems can

འདུ་ཤེས་མེད་པའི་སེམས་ཅན།

Asaṃjñisattva

Twelfth god realm of the form realms, meaning “Beings without Concepts,” it is the third of the three heavens that make up the fourth dhyāna heaven in the form realm. Also called Bṛhatphala.

g.24

Asura

lha ma yin

ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།

asura

Powerful beings who live around Mount Meru and are usually classified as belonging to the higher realms. They are characterized as jealous and ambitious, forever in conflict with the gods.

g.25

Atapa

mi gdung ba

མི་གདུང་བ།

Atapa

Fourteenth god realm of form, meaning “Without Hardship,” it is the second of the five “pure abodes” in the form realm.

g.26

Avṛha

mi che ba

མི་ཆེ་བ།

Avṛha

Thirteenth god realm of form, it is the first of the five heavens that make up the “pure abodes” in the form realm.

g.27

Bandé Yeshé Dé

ban de ye shes sde

བན་དེ་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།

A prolific Tibetan translator active during the late 8th and early 9th centuries.

g.28

Bases of miraculous power

rkang pa snying po
rdzu ’phrul rkang pa
rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa

རྐང་པ་སྙིང་པོ།
རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་རྐང་པ།
རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ།

ṛddhipāda

Four qualities that eliminate negative factors: zeal, vigor, attention (Tib. sems pa, Skt. citta), and investigation (Tib. dpyod pa, Skt. mīmāṃsā).

g.29

Becoming

srid pa

སྲིད་པ།

bhava

The tenth of the twelve links of dependent arising.

g.30

Beryl

bai dUrya

བཻ་དཱུརྱ།

vaidurya

g.31

Blessed one

bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavān

Epithet of a buddha.

g.32

Blessing of the buddha ornaments

sangs rgyas kyi rgyan byin gyis brlabs pa

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་རྒྱན་བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབས་པ།

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.33

Bodhicitta

byang chub kyi sems

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས།

bodhicitta

Also translated here as “thought of awakening.”

g.34

Boon of the Dharma

chos kyi zong

ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཟོང་།

dharmapaṇa

g.35

Brahmā

tshangs pa

ཚངས་པ།

Brahmā

(1) One of the primary deities of the Brahmanical pantheon, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two deities (the other being Indra/Śakra) who are said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Among his epithets is “Lord of the World of Endurance” (Sahāṃpati).

g.36

Brahmā abode

See “abodes of Brahmā.”

g.37

Brahmā realm

tshangs pa’i ’jig rten

ཚངས་པའི་འཇིག་རྟེན།

Brahmaloka

The heaven of Brahmā, usually located just above the desire realm as one of the first levels of the form realm and equated with the state that one achieves in the first concentration (dhyāna). Its extent varies depending on the source.

g.38

Brahmakāyika

tshangs ris
tshangs pa’i ris

ཚངས་རིས།
ཚངས་པའི་རིས།

Brahmakāyika

First god realm of form, meaning “Stratum of Brahmā,” it is the lowest of the three heavens that make up the first dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.39

Brahmapariṣadya

tshangs ’khor

ཚངས་འཁོར།

Brahmapariṣadya
Bharmapariṣad

Second god realm of form, meaning “Assembly of Brahmā,” it is the second of the three heavens that make up the first dhyāna heaven in the form realm. Also called Brahmapurohita.

g.40

Brahmapurohita

tshangs pa’i mdun na ’don

ཚངས་པའི་མདུན་ན་འདོན།

Brahmapurohita

Second god realm of form, meaning “high priests of Brahmā,” it is the second of the three heavens that make up the first dhyāna heaven in the form realm. Also called Brahmapariṣadya.

g.41

Bṛhatphala

’bras bu che ba

འབྲས་བུ་ཆེ་བ།

Bṛhatphala

Twelfth god realm of the form realms, meaning “Great Fruition,” it is the third of the three heavens that make up the fourth dhyāna heaven in the form realm. Also called Asaṃjñisattva.

g.42

Brilliant Light Rays of the Collection of Fine Gold

gser bzang po rnam par bsags pa’i ’od kyi gzi brjid kyi ’od zer

གསེར་བཟང་པོ་རྣམ་པར་བསགས་པའི་འོད་ཀྱི་གཟི་བརྗིད་ཀྱི་འོད་ཟེར།

A bodhisattva mahāsattva present in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.43

Buddha Courage

sangs rgya kyi spobs pa

སངས་རྒྱ་ཀྱི་སྤོབས་པ།

A buddhafield in the southern direction of the Tathāgata Countless Qualities Precious Courage.

g.44

Buddha play in unveiled liberation

rnam par thar pa sgrib pa med pa la sangs rgyas rnam par rol pa

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་སྒྲིབ་པ་མེད་པ་ལ་སངས་རྒྱས་རྣམ་པར་རོལ་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.45

Buddha qualities

sangs rgyas kyi chos

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།

buddhadharma

This term can refer to the general qualities of a buddha or to specific sets such as the ten strengths, the four fearlessnesses, the four discernments, and the eighteen unique buddha qualities; or even more specifically to another set of eighteen: the ten strengths; the four fearlessnesses; mindfulness of body, speech, and mind; and great compassion.

g.46

Buddhafield

sangs rgyas kyi zhing

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཞིང་།

buddhakṣetra

g.47

Calm

nyer zhi
nye bar zhi

ཉེར་ཞི།
ཉེ་བར་ཞི།

upaśāma
upaśanta

g.48

Capable one

thub pa

ཐུབ་པ།

muni

An ancient title, derived from the verb man (“to contemplate”), given to those who have attained the realization of a truth through their own contemplation and not by divine revelation. Also rendered here as “sage.”

Used here as an epithet of the buddhas and of the Buddha Śākyamuni in particular.

g.49

Caturmahārāja

rgyal po chen po bzhi

རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།

Caturmahārāja

The Four Great Kings‍—Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Vaiśravaṇa. They are gods of the first god realm of the desire realm and known as powerful guardians of the four quarters who rule, respectively, over kumbhāṇḍas in the south, nāgas in the west, gandharvas in the east, and yakṣas in the north.

g.50

Caturmahārājakāyika

rgyal chen bzhi’i ris

རྒྱལ་ཆེན་བཞིའི་རིས།

Caturmahārājakāyika

The lowest of the six god realms of the desire realm. See “Caturmahārāja.”

g.51

Compassion

snying rje

སྙིང་རྗེ།

karuṇā

One of the abodes of Brahmā, the other being: loving kindness or love, equanimity, and joy.

g.52

Completely peaceful

rab tu zhi ba dang ldan pa

རབ་ཏུ་ཞི་བ་དང་ལྡན་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.53

Concentration

bsam gtan

བསམ་གཏན།

dhyāna

g.54

Conquering the entire retinue of Māra

bdud kyi dkyil ’khor thams cad rnam par ’joms pa

བདུད་ཀྱི་དཀྱིལ་འཁོར་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་འཇོམས་པ།

sarvamāramaṇḍalavidhvaṃsana

The name of an absorption.

g.55

Conqueror of All Sorrow

mya ngan thams cad bcom pa

མྱ་ངན་ཐམས་ཅད་བཅོམ་པ།

A tathāgata in the southeastern buddhafield Sorrowless.

g.56

Consciousness

rnam par shes pa
rnam shes

རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ།
རྣམ་ཤེས།

vijñāna

g.57

Consecration

dbang bskur ba

དབང་བསྐུར་བ།

abhiṣekha

Also translated here as “empowerment.”

g.58

Contamination

zag pa

ཟག་པ།

āsrava

Also translated here as “defilement.” For the four contaminants, see 2.225.

g.59

Correct exertions

yang dag spong ba
yang dag par spong ba

ཡང་དག་སྤོང་བ།
ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ།

samyakprahāṇa

The four correct exertions are (1) abandoning existing negative mental states, (2) abandoning the production of such states, (3) giving rise to virtuous states of mind that are not yet produced, (4) and letting those states continue.

g.60

Countless Qualities Precious Courage

yon tan mtha’ yas rin chen spobs pa

ཡོན་ཏན་མཐའ་ཡས་རིན་ཆེན་སྤོབས་པ།

(1) A tathāgata in the buddhafield in the northern direction called Fully Adorned with Jewels. (2) A tathāgata in the buddhafield in the southern direction called Buddha Courage.

g.61

Courage

spobs pa

སྤོབས་པ།

pratibhāna

Also translated here as “eloquence.”

g.62

Crown protuberance

spyi gtsug

སྤྱི་གཙུག

uṣṇīṣa

g.63

Deep blue sapphire

mthon kha chen pos snying por gyur pa

མཐོན་ཁ་ཆེན་པོས་སྙིང་པོར་གྱུར་པ།

mahānīla

g.64

Deer Park

ri dags kyi nags

རི་དགས་ཀྱི་ནགས།

Mṛgadāva

The forest, located outside of Vārāṇasī, where the Buddha first taught the Dharma.

g.65

Defilement

zag pa

ཟག་པ།

āsrava

Also translated here as “contamination.”

g.66

Deliverance

nges par ’byung ba
nges ’byung

ངེས་པར་འབྱུང་བ།
ངེས་འབྱུང་།

niḥsaraṇa

This term is also translated as ‘renunciation’ and denotes the practitioner’s mind turning away from the bonds of saṃsāra and towards liberation.

g.67

Demonic deed

bdud kyi sug las
bdud kyi las

བདུད་ཀྱི་སུག་ལས།
བདུད་ཀྱི་ལས།

mārakarman

g.68

Dependent arising

rten cing ’brel par ’byung ba

རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་པར་འབྱུང་བ།

pratītyasamutpāda

The relative nature of phenomena, which arises in dependence on causes and conditions. Together with the four noble truths, this was the first teaching given by the Buddha. See “twelve links of dependent arising.”

g.69

Desire realm

’dod pa’i khams

འདོད་པའི་ཁམས།

kāmadhātu

One of the three realms of saṃsāra, characterized by the prevalence of sense desire.

g.70

Deva

ལྷ།

deva

See “gods.”

g.71

Dhanuskari flower

d+ha nu ska ri

དྷ་ནུ་སྐ་རི།

g.72

Dhāraṇī

gzungs

གཟུངས།

dhāraṇī

An incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula that distills essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. It also has the sense of “retention,” referring to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. Also translated here as “retention.”

g.73

Dhāraṇīśvararāja

gzungs kyi dbang phyug gi rgyal po

གཟུངས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག་གི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

Dhāraṇīśvararāja

The name of a Bodhisattva. The principal interlocutor of The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata, where he also gives a discourse of his own.

g.74

Dharma and Vinaya

chos ’dul ba

ཆོས་འདུལ་བ།

dharmavinaya

An early term used to denote the Buddha’s teaching. “Dharma” refers to the sūtras and “Vinaya” to the rules of discipline.

g.75

Dharma discourse

chos kyi rnam grangs

ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་གྲངས།

dharmaparyāya

g.76

Dharmakāya

chos kyi sku

ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།

dharmakāya

g.77

Dharmeśvararāja

chos kyi dbang phyug gi rgyal po

ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག་གི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

Dharmeśvararāja

The name of a bodhisattva. One of the more prominent interlocutors in The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata, he is instrumental in instigating the Buddha’s discourse.

g.78

Diligent

brtson ’grus
brtson pa

བརྩོན་འགྲུས།
བརྩོན་པ།

vīrya

Also translated here as “vigor.”

g.79

Discriminating knowledge

so so yang dag par rig pa
so so yang dag rig

སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ།
སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་རིག

pratisaṃvid

See “four types of discriminating knowledge.”

g.80

Display of the emanation of the buddha domain exactly as it is

sangs rgyas kyi yul rnam par sprul pa ji lta ba bzhin du yang dag par ston pa

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཡུལ་རྣམ་པར་སྤྲུལ་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་ཡང་དག་པར་སྟོན་པ།

The name of a tathāgata absorption.

g.81

Display of the strength of bodhisattvas

chang chub sems dpa’i stobs nye bar ston pa

ཆང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྟོབས་ཉེ་བར་སྟོན་པ།

The name of a light.

g.82

Eight kinds of misdeeds

log pa brgyad

ལོག་པ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭamithyātva

These consist of the opposites of the eight branches of the eightfold path: wrong view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and absorption.

g.83

Eight liberations

rnam par thar pa brgyad

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭavimokṣa

The first three liberations occur within the form realm: (1) liberation of the embodied looking at form (gzugs can gzugs la blta ba’i rnam thar), (2) liberation of the formless looking at a form (gzugs med gzugs la blta ba’i rnam thar), and (3) liberation through beautiful form (sdug pa’i rnam par thar pa); and the latter five occur within the formless realm: (4) liberation of infinite space (nam mkha’ mtha’ yas kyi rnam thar), (5) liberation of infinite consciousness (rnam shes mtha’ yas kyi rnam thar), (6) liberation of nothingness (ci yang med pa’i rnam thar), (7) liberation of the peak of existence (srid rtsi’i rnam thar), and (8) liberation of cessation (’gog pa’i rnam thar).

g.84

Eightfold path

yan lag brgyad pa’i lam

ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་པའི་ལམ།

aṣṭāṅgamārga

The path leading to the attainment of an arhat, consisting of correct view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and absorption.

g.85

Eighth-lowest level

chos kyi rnam grangs

ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་གྲངས།

dharmaparyāya

A person who is eight steps away in the arc of their development from becoming an arhat (Tib. dgra bcom pa). Specifically, this term refers to one who is on the cusp of becoming a stream-enterer (Skt. śrotāpanna; Tib. rgyun du zhugs pa), and is the first and lowest stage in a list of eight stages or classes of a noble person (Skt. āryapudgala). The person at this lowest stage in the sequence is still on the path of seeing (Skt. darśanamārga; Tib. mthong lam), and then enters the path of cultivation (Skt. bhāvanāmārga; Tib. sgoms lam) upon attaining the next stage, that of a stream-enterer (stage 7). From there they progress through the remaining stages of the śrāvaka path, becoming in turn a once-returner (stages six and five), a non-returner (stages four and three), and an arhat (stages two and one). This same “eighth stage” also appears in set of ten stages (Skt. daśabhūmi; Tib. sa bcu) found in Mahāyāna sources, where it is the third step out of the ten. Not to be confused with the ten stages of the bodhisattva’s path, these ten stages mark the progress of one who sequentially follows the paths of a śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and then bodhisattva on their way to complete buddhahood. In this set of ten stages a person “on the eighth stage” is similarly one who is on the cusp of becoming a stream-enterer.

g.86

Elements

khams

ཁམས།

dhātu

One way of describing experience and the world in terms of eighteen elements (eye and form, ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and tactile sensation, mind and mental objects, to which the six consciousnesses are added).

Also refers to the “four elements.”

g.87

Eloquence

spobs pa

སྤོབས་པ།

pratibhāna

Also translated here as “courage.”

g.88

Eloquence in Language via Insight

shes rab kyis rnam par nges pa’i tshig la spobs pa

ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱིས་རྣམ་པར་ངེས་པའི་ཚིག་ལ་སྤོབས་པ།

The name of a bodhisattva mahāsattva.

g.89

Empowerment

dbang bskur ba

དབང་བསྐུར་བ།

Also translated here as “consecration.”

g.90

Emptiness

stong pa nyid

སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

śūnyatā

In this text, refers to one of the three gates of liberation.

g.91

Endowed with the Vast Display of the Precious Merits of Endless Qualities

yon tan mtha’ yas pa’i rin po che’i bsod nams bkod pas rgya che ba dang ldan pa

ཡོན་ཏན་མཐའ་ཡས་པའི་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་བསོད་ནམས་བཀོད་པས་རྒྱ་ཆེ་བ་དང་ལྡན་པ།

A buddhafield in the eastern direction where the Tathāgata Immaculate Pure Precious Light, Sovereign of the Uninterrupted Luminous Display of Dharma Endowed with the Factors of Awakening resides.

g.92

Endurance

mi mjed

མི་མཇེད།

Sahā

The name of our world system.

g.93

Entering ascertainment by discriminating knowledge

so so yang dag par rig pa rnam par nges pa la ’jug pa

སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ་རྣམ་པར་ངེས་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ།

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.94

Entering the gate of nonattachment

chags pa med pa’i sgo ’jug pa

ཆགས་པ་མེད་པའི་སྒོ་འཇུག་པ།

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.95

Equanimity

btang snyoms

བཏང་སྙོམས།

upekṣā

One of the factors of awakening and one of the abodes of Brahmā, the other being: loving kindness or love, joy, and compassion.

g.96

Essential nature

ngo bo nyid

ངོ་བོ་ཉིད།

svabhāva

g.97

Etymology

nges pa’i tshig
nges tshig

ངེས་པའི་ཚིག
ངེས་ཚིག

nirukta

g.98

Evil destinies

ngan ’gro

ངན་འགྲོ།

durgati

The three lower realms of animals, pretas, and hell beings. Also translated as “sad destinies” and “miserable destinies.”

g.99

Factors of awakening

byang chub yan lag
byang chub kyi yan lag

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཡན་ལག
བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག

bodhyaṅga

The seven factors of awakening are listed in The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata as correct mindfulness, correct investigation of phenomena, correct vigor, correct joy, correct serenity, correct meditative absorption, and correct equanimity.

g.100

Faculties

dbang po

དབང་པོ།

indriya

Most commonly refers to the cognitive faculties: the five senses plus the mental faculty. Also used here to refer to various faculties in a more general sense. See also the “five spiritual faculties.”

g.101

Faith

dad pa

དད་པ།

śraddhā

One of the factors of awakening. It is also included in the lists of the five spiritual faculties, the five strengths, and the seven riches.

g.102

Fearless eloquence

mi ’jigs pas spobs pa

མི་འཇིགས་པས་སྤོབས་པ།

The name of a light.

g.103

Fearlessness

mi ’jigs pa

མི་འཇིགས་པ།

vaiśāradya
abhaya

See “four types of fearlessness.”

g.104

Feeling

tshor ba

ཚོར་བ།

vedanā

One of the five aggregates and the seventh of the twelve links of dependent arising.

g.105

Field

zhing

ཞིང་།

kṣetra

g.106

Filigree

dra ba

དྲ་བ།

jāla

g.107

Five obstructions

sgrib pa lnga

སྒྲིབ་པ་ལྔ།

pañcanivaraṇa

Five impediments to meditation: sense desire (’dod pa la ’dun pa, kāmacchanda), ill will (gnod sems, vyāpāda), drowsiness and torpor (rmugs pa dang gnyid, styānamiddha), agitation and guilt (rgod pa dang ’gyod pa, auddhatyakaukṛtya), and doubt (the tshom, vicikitsā).

g.108

Five spiritual faculties

dbang po lnga

དབང་པོ་ལྔ།

pañcendriya

Faith, vigor, mindfulness, absorption, and insight.

g.109

Five states of existence

lnga’i ’gro ba

ལྔའི་འགྲོ་བ།

pañcagati

A shorter form of the six classes of beings, these are (1) hell beings, (2) pretas, (3) animals, (4) human beings, and (5) gods. The fifth category is divided into gods and asuras when six realms are enumerated.

g.110

Five strengths

stobs lnga

སྟོབས་ལྔ།

pañcabala

Faith, vigor, mindfulness, absorption, and insight. Although the same as the five spiritual faculties, they are stronger in terms of not being shaken by adverse conditions.

g.111

Form realm

gzugs kyi khams

གཟུགས་ཀྱི་ཁམས།

rūpadhātu

One of the three realms of saṃsāra, characterized by subtle materiality and the lack of coarse desire as in the desire realm.

g.112

Formations

’du byed

འདུ་བྱེད།

saṃskāra

As one of the five aggregates and the second of the twelve links of dependent arising, these are complex propensities that bring about actions. This term may also refer to composite objects or conditioned things in the generic sense.

g.113

Formless realm

gzugs med pa’i khams

གཟུགས་མེད་པའི་ཁམས།

ārūpyadhātu
arūpadhātu

One of the three realms of saṃsāra, characterized by having only subtle mental form.

g.114

Four concentrations

bsam gtan bzhi

བསམ་གཏན་བཞི།

caturdhyāna

The four levels of concentration related to the form realm.

g.115

Four continents

gling bzhi pa

གླིང་བཞི་པ།

caturdvipaka

The four continents surrounding Mount Meru that make up a world system.

g.116

Four elements

khams rnam pa bzhi po

ཁམས་རྣམ་པ་བཞི་པོ།

caturdhātu

Earth, water, fire, and wind. Also called “four great elements.”

g.117

Four great elements

’byung po chen po bzhi

འབྱུང་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།

caturmahābhūta

Earth, water, fire, and wind. Also called “four elements.”

g.118

Four māras

bdud bzhi

བདུད་བཞི།

The deities ruled over by Māra are also symbolic of the defects within a person that prevent awakening. These four personifications are (1) devaputramāra (lha’i bu’i bdud), the divine māra, which is the distraction of pleasures, (2) mṛtyumāra (’chi bdag gi bdud), the māra of the Lord of Death, (3) skandhamāra (phung po’i bdud), the māra of the aggregates, which is the body, and (4) kleśamāra (nyon mongs pa’i bdud), the māra of the afflictive emotions.

g.119

Four noble truths

bden pa bzhi

བདེན་པ་བཞི།

The Buddha’s first teaching, which explains suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering.

g.120

Four types of discriminating knowledge

so so yang dag par rig pa bzhi

སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ་བཞི།

catuḥpratisaṃvid

Knowledge of phenomena, meaning, etymologies, and eloquence.

g.121

Four types of fearlessness

mi ’jigs pa bzhi

མི་འཇིགས་པ་བཞི།

caturvaiśāradya
caturabhaya

Fearlessness in declaring that one has (1) awakened, (2) ceased all illusions, (3) taught the obstacles to awakening, and (4) shown the way to liberation.

g.122

Fragrance array

dri bkod pa

དྲི་བཀོད་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.123

Fragrant

dri ldan

དྲི་ལྡན།

The name of a world realm.

g.124

Free of Darkness

mun pa dang bral ba

མུན་པ་དང་བྲལ་བ།

A buddhafield in the northwestern direction of the Tathāgata Sovereign Light Display.

g.125

Full retention

kun tu ’dzin pa

ཀུན་ཏུ་འཛིན་པ།

āgraha

g.126

Fully Adorned with Jewels

rin po che thams cad kyis spras pa

རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས་སྤྲས་པ།

A buddhafield in the northern direction of the Tathāgata Countless Qualities Precious Courage.

g.127

Gandharva

dri za

དྲི་ཟ།

gandharva

Gandharvas, literally “smell eaters,” are a class of spirits sometimes described as “celestial musicians.”

g.128

Ganges

gang gA

གང་གཱ།

Gaṅgā

The sacred river of North India.

g.129

Garuḍa

nam mkha’ lding

ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།

garuḍa

Lower class of divine beings described as eagle-like birds with gigantic wingspans. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth.

g.130

Gathering of Stable and Immeasurable Merit and Insight

bsod nams dang ye shes kyi tshogs dpag tu med pas brtan pas bsags pa

བསོད་ནམས་དང་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པས་བརྟན་པས་བསགས་པ།

A bodhisattva mahāsattva present in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.131

Gazing at All Beings with Great Compassion

thugs rje chen pos sems can thams cad la gzigs pa

ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོས་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་གཟིགས་པ།

A tathāgata in the southwestern buddhafield Virtuous Eye.

g.132

Glorious Light

’od dpal

འོད་དཔལ།

A bodhisattva of the past world Stainless who received a dhāraṇī from the Tathāgata Stainless Illumination. A past incarnation of the bodhisattva Dhāraṇīśvararāja.

g.133

Glorious Secret

dpal sbas

དཔལ་སྦས།

A tathāgata of the past world Virtuous Occurrence.

g.134

Glory of Precious Blue Lotus

rin chen ud pa la’i dpal

རིན་ཆེན་ཨུད་པ་ལའི་དཔལ།

The name of a tathāgata in the world realm Appearance of the Sovereign of Water.

g.135

Glory of the Precious Red Lotus

rin chen ut+pa la dmar po’i dpal

རིན་ཆེན་ཨུཏྤ་ལ་དམར་པོའི་དཔལ།

The tathāgata of the buddhafield, located at the nadir, called Appearing as Illumination.

g.136

God

ལྷ།

deva

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, specifically influenced by exaltation, frivolousness, and pride. According to Buddhist cosmology, the gods live in many divine realms within the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm.. Also rendered here as “devas.”

g.137

Good Eon

bskal pa bzang po

བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ།

bhadrakalpa

The name of our present eon.

g.138

Great superknowledge

mngon par shes pa chen po

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahābhijña

g.139

Guhyaka

gsang ba pa

གསང་བ་པ།

guhyaka

A class of devas that, like the yakṣas, are ruled over by Kubera, but are also said to be his most trusted helpers. It is said that they protect his hidden treasures and live in mountain caves.

g.140

Illuminated

snang ba dang ldan pa

སྣང་བ་དང་ལྡན་པ།

A buddhafield in the western direction of the Tathāgata Illuminator.

g.141

Illuminating

rnam par snang byed

རྣམ་པར་སྣང་བྱེད།

The name of an eon.

g.142

Illuminator

kun nas snang ba

ཀུན་ནས་སྣང་བ།

(1) Name of tathāgata in the western buddhafield Illuminated. (2) A bodhisattva in the southeastern buddhafield Sorrowless.

g.143

Immaculate Center of the Sky

nam mkha’i dkyil dri ma med pa rnam par sems pa

ནམ་མཁའི་དཀྱིལ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པ་རྣམ་པར་སེམས་པ།

The tathāgata of the northeastern buddhafield Pure Immaculate Dwelling.

g.144

Immaculate Limitless Intelligence

blo mtha’ yas dri med

བློ་མཐའ་ཡས་དྲི་མེད།

A bodhisattva in the northeastern buddhafield Pure Immaculate Dwelling.

g.145

Immaculate Pure Precious Light, Sovereign of the Uninterrupted Luminous Display of Dharma Endowed with the Factors of Awakening

dri med rnam dag rin chen ’od byang chub kyi yan lag dang ldan pa’ chos rgyun mi ’chad pa’i ’od zer bkod pa’i rgyal po

དྲི་མེད་རྣམ་དག་རིན་ཆེན་འོད་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག་དང་ལྡན་པའ་ཆོས་རྒྱུན་མི་འཆད་པའི་འོད་ཟེར་བཀོད་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A tathāgata in the eastern buddhafield Endowed with the Vast Display of the Precious Merits of Endless Qualities.

g.146

Immeasurables

tshad med

ཚད་མེད།

pramāṇa

The four immeasurables, also known as the “abodes of Brahmā”: loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

g.147

Indefatigable by seeing with great compassion

thugs rje chen po la lta bas yongs su mi skyo ba

ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་ལ་ལྟ་བས་ཡོངས་སུ་མི་སྐྱོ་བ།

The name of an absorption.

g.148

Indra

dbang po

དབང་པོ།

Indra

King of the gods of Trāyastriṃśa, usually referred to by the name “Śakra.”

g.149

Inexhaustible basket

mi zad pa’i za ma tog

མི་ཟད་པའི་ཟ་མ་ཏོག

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.150

Insight

shes rab

ཤེས་རབ།

prajñā

g.151

Intelligence

blo gros

བློ་གྲོས།

mati

Also translated as “understanding.”

g.152

Intelligence in Conduct Stemming from the Tathāgata Lineage

de bzhin gshegs pa’i rigs las byung ba’i spyod pa’i blo gros

དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་རིགས་ལས་བྱུང་བའི་སྤྱོད་པའི་བློ་གྲོས།

A bodhisattva mahāsattva present in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.153

Investigation of phenomena

chos rnam par ’byed pa
chos rab tu ’byed pa

ཆོས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ།
ཆོས་རབ་ཏུ་འབྱེད་པ།

dharmapravicaya

One of the factors of awakening.

g.154

Jambu River

’dzam bu chu bo

འཛམ་བུ་ཆུ་བོ།

Jambunadī

A divine river.

g.155

Jambudvīpa

’dzam bu’i gling

འཛམ་བུའི་གླིང་།

Jambudvīpa

The southern continent, one of the four continents surrounding Mount Meru.

g.156

Jewel lamp

rin chen sgron ma

རིན་ཆེན་སྒྲོན་མ།

ratnadīpa

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.157

Jeweled Array

rin po che bkod pa

རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བཀོད་པ།

The name of a pavilion emanated by the Buddha.

g.158

Jīvañjīvaka

shang shang
shang shang te’u

ཤང་ཤང་།
ཤང་ཤང་ཏེའུ།

jīvañjīvaka

A mythical two-headed bird that is said to live in the snowy mountains. It is described in Buddhist texts as having a melodious song and is depicted in Buddhist art as resembling a pheasant.

g.159

Joy

dga’ ba

དགའ་བ།

prīti

One of the factors of awakening and one of the abodes of Brahmā, the other being: loving kindness or love, equanimity, and compassion.

g.160

Kalaviṅka

ka la ping ka

ཀ་ལ་པིང་ཀ

kalaviṅka

In Buddhist literature refers to a mythical bird with the head of a human and the body of a bird. The kalaviṅka’s call is said to be far more beautiful than that of all other birds, and so compelling that it can be heard even before the bird has hatched. The call of the kalaviṅka is thus used as an analogy to describe the voice of the Buddha.

g.161

Kanakamuni

gser thub

གསེར་ཐུབ།

Kanakamuni

Name of a former buddha usually counted as the second of the first four buddhas of the present Good Eon, the other three being Krakucchanda, Kāśyapa, and Śākyamuni.

g.162

Kāśyapa

’od srung

འོད་སྲུང་།

Kāśyapa

Name of a former buddha usually counted as the third of the first four buddhas of the present Good Eon, the other three being Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Śākyamuni.

g.163

Kauṇḍinya

kauN+Di n+ya

ཀཽཎྜི་ནྱ།

Kauṇḍinya

An arhat and disciple the Buddha Śākyamuni. He is counted among the five wandering mendicants (parivrājaka) who initially ridiculed the Buddha’s austerities but later, after the Buddha’s awakening, became one of his first disciples and received his first discourse at Deer Park.

g.164

Kinnara

mi’am ci

མིའམ་ཅི།

kinnara

A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “Is that a man?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human and half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

g.165

Krakucchanda

’khor ba ’jig

འཁོར་བ་འཇིག

Krakucchanda

Name of a former buddha usually counted as the first of the first four buddhas of the present Good Eon, the other three being Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, and Śākyamuni.

g.166

Leadership

khyu mchog tu gyur pa

ཁྱུ་མཆོག་ཏུ་གྱུར་པ།

arṣabha

g.167

Liberation

rnam par grol ba
rnam par thar pa

རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བ།
རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ།

vimokṣa

g.168

Light array

’od bkod pa

འོད་བཀོད་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.169

Light-Web Bearer

’od zer dra ba can

འོད་ཟེར་དྲ་བ་ཅན།

A bodhisattva in the northwestern buddhafield Free of Darkness.

g.170

Limit of reality

yang dag pa’i mtha’
mtha’ ma

ཡང་དག་པའི་མཐའ།
མཐའ་མ།

bhūtakoṭi

This term has three meanings: (1) a synonym for the ultimate nature, (2) the experience of the ultimate nature, and (3) the quiescent state of an arhat to be avoided by bodhisattvas.

g.171

Limitless enfoldment

’khyil pa mtha’ yas

འཁྱིལ་པ་མཐའ་ཡས།

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.172

Limitless inspiring praise

bskul bar bsngags pa mtha’ yas

བསྐུལ་བར་བསྔགས་པ་མཐའ་ཡས།

The name of a seat.

g.173

Loosely organized

snrel zhi

སྣྲེལ་ཞི།

vyatyasta

Lit. “topsy-turvy”; in a mixed order. Also translated here as “nonsequential” and “perverted.”

g.174

Lotus array

pad ma bkod pa

པད་མ་བཀོད་པ།

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.175

Lotus array

pad+ma bkod pa

པདྨ་བཀོད་པ།

The name of an absorption.

g.176

Loving kindness

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

maitrī

Also rendered as love. One of the abodes of Brahmā, the other being: joy, equanimity, and compassion.

g.177

Luminosity

’od gsal

འོད་གསལ།

prabhāsvara

g.178

Magical Display of Māra

bdud rnam par ’phrul pa

བདུད་རྣམ་པར་འཕྲུལ་པ།

A being in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.179

Mahābrahmā

tshangs chen

ཚངས་ཆེན།

Mahābrahmā

Third god realm of form, meaning “Great Brahmā,” it is the highest of the three realms of the first dhyāna heaven in the form realms.

g.180

Mahākāśyapa

’od srung chen po

འོད་སྲུང་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahākāśyapa

One of the Buddha’s principal disciples, he became the Buddha’s successor on his passing.

g.181

Mahāparinirvāṇa

yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa chen po

ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāparinirvāṇa

Synonym of “parinirvāṇa.”

g.182

Mahāprabha

’od chen

འོད་ཆེན།

Mahāprabha

One of the form realms.

g.183

Mahoraga

lto ’phye chen po

ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahoraga

Literally “large serpent.” A subterranean semidivine being that take the form of a large serpent, sometimes with a human torso and head.

g.184

Maitreya

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

Maitreya

The bodhisattva of loving kindness and a future tathāgata, prophesied to be the fifth buddha of the Good Eon.

g.185

Major marks

mtshan

མཚན།

lakṣaṇa

Listed as thirty-two marks on the body of a buddha.

g.186

Māra

bdud

བདུད།

Māra

(1) The demon who assailed Śākyamuni prior to his awakening. (2) The deities ruled over by Māra who do not wish any beings to escape from saṃsāra. (3) Any demonic force, the personification of conceptual and emotional obstacles. They are also symbolic of the defects within a person that prevent awakening. See also “four māras.”

g.187

Mārapramardaka

bdud rab tu ’joms pa

བདུད་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པ།

Mārapramardaka

A bodhisattva.

g.188

Māraputra

bdud kyi bu

བདུད་ཀྱི་བུ།

Māraputra

Lit. “Son of Māra.”

g.189

Means of attraction

bsdu ba

བསྡུ་བ།

saṃgraha

The means of attracting disciples: generosity, pleasant speech, beneficial conduct, and conduct that accords with the wishes of disciples.

g.190

Meditative equipoise

mnyam par gzhag pa
mnyam par bzhag pa

མཉམ་པར་གཞག་པ།
མཉམ་པར་བཞག་པ།

samāhita

g.191

Mind of Great Compassion

snying rje chen po sems pa

སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་སེམས་པ།

A bodhisattva in the southwestern buddhafield Virtuous Eye.

g.192

Mindfulness

dran pa

དྲན་པ།

smṛti

g.193

Minor signs

dpe byad

དཔེ་བྱད།

vyañjana

Listed as eighty minor signs on the body of a buddha.

g.194

Miraculous display

cho ’phrul

ཆོ་འཕྲུལ།

prātihārya

g.195

Miraculous power

rdzu ’phrul

རྫུ་འཕྲུལ།

ṛddhi

See “bases of miraculous power.”

g.196

Miserable destinies

See “evil destinies.”

g.197

Miserable states of mind

kun nas mnar sems

ཀུན་ནས་མནར་སེམས།

āghātavastu

These are listed as nine: thinking that one’s enemy has harmed, is harming, or will harm oneself; thinking that one’s enemy has harmed, is harming, or will harm one’s friend; and thinking that someone has helped, is helping, or will help one’s enemy.

g.198

Morality

tshul khrims

ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།

śīla

Morally virtuous or disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. One of the six perfections of the bodhisattva. Also often rendered as “ethics,” “discipline,” and so on.

g.199

Most Fragrant

dri mchog

དྲི་མཆོག

The name of an eon in the past.

g.200

Mount Meru

ri bo lhun po

རི་བོ་ལྷུན་པོ།

Meru

The mountain at the center of a world system and surrounded by the four continents.

g.201

Nāga

ཀླུ།

nāga

A semidivine class of beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments and who are known to hoard wealth and esoteric teachings. They are associated with snakes and serpents.

g.202

Nectar

bdud rtsi

བདུད་རྩི།

amṛta

g.203

Nirmāṇarati

’phrul dga’

འཕྲུལ་དགའ།

Nirmāṇarati

The second highest of the six god realms of the desire realm, meaning “Enjoying Emanations.” Its inhabitants magically create the objects of their own enjoyment.

g.204

Nirvāṇa

mya ngan las ’das pa

མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།

nirvāṇa

The ultimate cessation of suffering.

g.205

Noble lineage

’phags pa’i rigs

འཕགས་པའི་རིགས།

aryagotra

g.206

Non-Buddhist

mu stegs pa

མུ་སྟེགས་པ།

tīrthika

Religious or philosophical orders that were contemporary with the early Buddhist order, including Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas.

g.207

Non-returner

phyir mi ’ong ba

ཕྱིར་མི་འོང་བ།

anāgāmin

One who has achieved the third of the four levels of attainment on the śrāvaka path and who will no longer be reborn in saṃsāra.

g.208

Nonsequential

snrel zhi
thod rgal

སྣྲེལ་ཞི།
ཐོད་རྒལ།

vyutkrāntakasamāpatti
vyatyasta

Lit. “topsy-turvy”; in a mixed order. Also translated here as “loosely organized” and “perverted.” See n.24.

g.209

Ocean mudrā

rgya mtsho’i phyag rgya

རྒྱ་མཚོའི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ།

sāgaramudrā

The name of an absorption and the name of a dhāraṇī.

g.210

Ocean of Supreme Intelligence

blo mchog rgya mtsho

བློ་མཆོག་རྒྱ་མཚོ།

A bodhisattva in the northern buddhafield Fully Adorned with Jewels.

g.211

Once-returner

lan cig phyir ’ong ba

ལན་ཅིག་ཕྱིར་འོང་བ།

sakṛdāgāmin

One who has achieved the second of the four levels of attainment on the śrāvaka path and who will attain liberation after only one more birth.

g.212

Ornamental Display of Courage

spobs pa’i rgyan bkod pa

སྤོབས་པའི་རྒྱན་བཀོད་པ།

A bodhisattva in the buddhafield at the nadir called Appearing as Illumination.

g.213

Pāpīyān

sdig can

སྡིག་ཅན།

Pāpīyān

The name of a demon said to reside in Paranirmitavaśavartin.

g.214

Paranirmitavaśavartin

gzhan ’phrul dbang byed

གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད།

Paranirmitavaśavartin

The highest of the six god realms of the desire realm.

g.215

Parinirvāṇa

yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa
yongs su mya ngan las ’da’ ba

ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདའ་བ།

parinirvāṇa

The final stage of passing into nirvāṇa, which occurs when an arhat or a buddha passes away.

g.216

Pariṣaka flower

pa ri Sha ka

པ་རི་ཥ་ཀ

g.217

Parīttābha

’od chung

འོད་ཆུང་།

Parīttābha

Fourth god realm of form, meaning “Lesser Light,” it is the lowest of the three heavens that make up the second dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.218

Parīttaśubha

dge chung

དགེ་ཆུང་།

Parīttaśubha

Seventh god realm of form, meaning “Lesser Virtue,” it is the lowest of the three heavens that make up the third dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.219

Pavilion

’khor gyi khyam

འཁོར་གྱི་ཁྱམ།

maṇḍalamāḍa

g.220

Peace

zhi ba

ཞི་བ།

śānti

g.221

Peak of existence

rtse mo

རྩེ་མོ།

bhavāgra

The highest possible state in saṃsāra, it refers to the highest sphere of the formless realm, the Sphere of neither Perception nor Nonperception.

g.222

Perception

’du shes

འདུ་ཤེས།

saṃjñā

g.223

Perfect knowledge

yang dag pa’i shes pa

ཡང་དག་པའི་ཤེས་པ།

samyagjñāna

g.224

Personalism

’jig tshogs

འཇིག་ཚོགས།

satkāya

See “personalistic view.”

g.225

Personalistic view

’jig tshogs la lta ba

འཇིག་ཚོགས་ལ་ལྟ་བ།

satkāyadṛṣṭi

View that posits true reality in a person by taking one or more of the five aggregates to consist in a single, lasting, and autonomously existing entity (self). Also known as the view of the transitory collection.

g.226

Perverted

snrel zhi

སྣྲེལ་ཞི།

vyatyasta

Also translated here as “nonsequential” and “loosely organized.”

g.227

Phenomenon

chos

ཆོས།

dharma

Also translated as “righteousness” and “Dharma” (see entry for “Dharma and Vinaya”).

g.228

Phoneme

tshig ’bru

ཚིག་འབྲུ།

akṣara

This term refers to the vowels and consonants that make up written or spoken language.

Also translated here as “syllable.”

g.229

Pollution

nyon mongs

ཉོན་མོངས།

kleśa

Also translated here as “afflictive emotion.”

g.230

Prajñākūṭa

shes rab brtsegs

ཤེས་རབ་བརྩེགས།

Prajñākūṭa

“Heap of Insight.” A bodhisattva present in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.231

Pramodita

rab dga’ ldan

རབ་དགའ་ལྡན།

Pramodita

King of the gods of Tuṣita.

g.232

Prasīmā

mtshams rab

མཚམས་རབ།

Prasīmā

The name of a god.

g.233

Pratibhānapratisaṃvid

so so yang dag par rig pa la spobs pa

སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ་ལ་སྤོབས་པ།

Pratibhānapratisaṃvid

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s assembly.

g.234

Pratyekabuddha

rang sangs rgyas
rang rgyal

རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
རང་རྒྱལ།

pratyekabuddha

Someone who has attained liberation entirely through their own contemplation as a result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, does not have the accumulated merit and motivation to teach others.

g.235

Preta

yi dwags

ཡི་དྭགས།

preta

A class of beings who, in the Buddhist tradition, are particularly known to suffer from hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

g.236

Propensity

dbang po

དབང་པོ།

indriya

Also translated as “faculty.”

g.237

Puṇyaprasava

bsod nams skyes

བསོད་ནམས་སྐྱེས།

Puṇyaprasava

Eleventh god realm of the form realm, meaning “Increasing Merit,” it is the second of the three heavens that make up the fourth dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.238

Pure abodes

gnas gtsang ma

གནས་གཙང་མ།

Śuddhāvāsa

The name given to the five highest levels of existence within the form realm.

g.239

Pure Immaculate Dwelling

yongs dag dri ma med par rab tu gnas pa

ཡོངས་དག་དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་རབ་ཏུ་གནས་པ།

A buddhafield in the northeastern direction, where the Tathāgata Immaculate Center of the Sky resides.

g.240

Pure melody

sgra dbyangs rnam par dag pa

སྒྲ་དབྱངས་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ།

The name of a dhāraṇī.

g.241

Puṣpaśrīgarbhasarvadharmavaśavartin

me tog dpal gyi snying po chos thams cad la dbang sgyur ba

མེ་ཏོག་དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་དབང་སྒྱུར་བ།

Puṣpaśrīgarbhasarvadharmavaśavartin

Name of a bodhisattva in the eastern buddhafield Endowed with the Vast Display of the Precious Merits of Endless Qualities.

g.242

Rājagṛha

rgyal po’i khab

རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།

Rājagṛha

Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar, Rājagṛha was the capital of the kingdom of Magadha during the Buddha’s lifetime.

g.243

Rare and precious sandalwood

tsan dan dus kyi rjes su ’brang ba’i dri

ཙན་དན་དུས་ཀྱི་རྗེས་སུ་འབྲང་བའི་དྲི།

kālānusāricandana

g.244

Ratnayaṣṭi

rin chen srog zhing

རིན་ཆེན་སྲོག་ཞིང་།

Ratnayaṣṭi

A bodhisattva in the southern buddhafield Buddha Courage.

g.245

Realm of Brahmā

See “Brahmā realm.”

g.246

Realm of phenomena

chos kyi dbyings

ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས།

dharmadhātu

A synonym for emptiness, the ultimate reality, or the ultimate nature of things. This term is interpreted variously due to the many different meanings of dharma as element, phenomena, reality, truth, and/or the teaching.

g.247

Recollect

rjes su dran pa

རྗེས་སུ་དྲན་པ།

anusmṛti

g.248

Retention

gzungs

གཟུངས།

dhāraṇī

Also translated as “dhāraṇī.”

g.249

Righteousness

chos

ཆོས།

dharma

Also translated as “phenomena” and “Dharma” (see entry for “Dharma and Vinaya”).

g.250

Roca flower

s+tha la

སྠ་ལ།

roca

g.251

Rṣipatana

drang srong lhung ba

དྲང་སྲོང་ལྷུང་བ།

Rṣipatana

The site near Vārāṇasī where the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma.

g.252

Sad destinies

See “evil destinies.”

g.253

Sage

drang srong

དྲང་སྲོང་།

ṛṣi

g.254

Śakra

brgya byin

བརྒྱ་བྱིན།

Śakra

King of the gods of Trāyastriṃśa, another name for Indra.

g.255

Śākyamuni

shAkya thub pa

ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།

Śākyamuni

An epithet for the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama: he was a muni (“capable one”) from the Śākya clan. Usually counted as the fourth of the first four buddhas of the present Good Eon, the other three being Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa.

g.256

Sandalwood Dwelling

tsan dan khyim

ཙན་དན་ཁྱིམ།

A tathāgata in the past eon Most Fragrant, of the world realm Fragrant.

g.257

Saṅgha

dge ’dun

དགེ་འདུན།

saṅgha

g.258

Seal

phyag rgya

ཕྱག་རྒྱ།

mudrā

g.259

Seat of awakening

byang chub kyi snying po

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།

bodhimaṇḍa

g.260

Selfless

bdag med

བདག་མེད།

nairātmya

g.261

Sense fields

skye mched

སྐྱེ་མཆེད།

āyatana

One way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve (or six sets of) sense fields: eye and form, ear and sound, nose and odor, tongue and taste, body and touch, and mind and mental objects.

g.262

Sequential

rjes su ’thun pa

རྗེས་སུ་འཐུན་པ།

anukāra

Also translated as “well-organized.”

g.263

Serenity

shin tu sbyangs pa

ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱངས་པ།

One of the factors of awakening.

g.264

Seven precious substances

rin po che sna bdun

རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྣ་བདུན།

saptaratna

The list of seven precious materials varies. Sometimes they are gold, silver, turquoise, coral, pearl, emerald, and sapphire; or they may be ruby, sapphire, beryl, emerald, diamond, pearls, and coral.

g.265

Seven riches

nor bdun

ནོར་བདུན།

saptadhana

The seven riches of noble beings: faith, morality, generosity, learning, modesty, humility, and insight.

g.266

Signlessness

mtshan ma med pa

མཚན་མ་མེད་པ།

animitta

One of the three gates of liberation.

g.267

Śīlendrabodhi

shI len dra bo dhi

ཤཱི་ལེན་དྲ་བོ་དྷི།

Śīlendrabodhi

An Indian paṇḍita resident in Tibet during the late 8th and early 9th centuries.

g.268

Siṃhaketu

seng ge’i tog

སེང་གེའི་ཏོག

Siṃhaketu

Lit. “Lion Crest.” The bodhisattva present in the Buddha’s assembly who requests a discourse from Dhāraṇīśvararāja.

g.269

Six kinds of sense objects

yul drug

ཡུལ་དྲུག

The objects of the six senses include those of the five physical senses (visual forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations) plus the object of the mental faculty, mental phenomena (dharmas).

g.270

Six recollections

rjes su dran pa drug

རྗེས་སུ་དྲན་པ་དྲུག

ṣaḍanusmṛti

Six things to keep in mind: the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha, generosity, morality, and the gods. See 2.38

g.271

Smṛtibuddhi

dran pa’i blo

དྲན་པའི་བློ།

Smṛtibuddhi

A bodhisattva of the past world Virtuous Occurrence who answers the questions of the Tathāgata Glorious Secret. A past incarnation of the bodhisattva Prajñākūṭa.

g.272

Sorrowless

mya ngan med pa

མྱ་ངན་མེད་པ།

A buddhafield in the southeastern direction of the Tathāgata Conqueror of All Sorrow.

g.273

Sovereign Light Display

’od bkod pa’i rgyal po

འོད་བཀོད་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A tathāgata in the northwestern buddhafield Free of Darkness.

g.274

Sovereign of Powerful Reverberating Sound

sgra bsrags pa’i stobs kyi rgyal po

སྒྲ་བསྲགས་པའི་སྟོབས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A bodhisattva in the western buddhafield Illuminated.

g.275

Sovereign of Supreme Reverberating Sound

sgra bsgrags mchog gi rgyal po

སྒྲ་བསྒྲགས་མཆོག་གི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A tathāgata of the buddhafield, at the zenith, called Adorned by Ornaments.

g.276

Sovereign of the Magical Display of All Phenomena

chos thams cad rnam par ’phrul pa’i rgyal po

ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་འཕྲུལ་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A bodhisattva.

g.277

Sovereign Who Emanates All Phenomena

chos thams cad rnam par ’phrul pa’i rgyal po

ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་འཕྲུལ་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A bodhisattva in the buddhafield, at the zenith, called Adorned by Ornaments.

g.278

Special insight

lhag mthong

ལྷག་མཐོང་།

vipaśyanā

g.279

Special intention

lhag pa’i sems

ལྷག་པའི་སེམས།

adhicitta

g.280

Sphere of neither Perception nor Nonperception

’du shes med ’du shes med min skye mched

འདུ་ཤེས་མེད་འདུ་ཤེས་མེད་མིན་སྐྱེ་མཆེད།

Naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatanaṃ

Fourth of the four formless realms, also the name of the fourth of the four concentrations (dhyāna).

g.281

Spiritual level

ས།

bhūmi

g.282

Śrāvaka

nyan thos

ཉན་ཐོས།

śrāvaka

Those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat by seeking self-liberation. The term is usually defined as “one who hears the Dharma from the Buddha and makes it heard by others.”

g.283

Stainless

dri ma med pa

དྲི་མ་མེད་པ།

(1) A past world where the Tathāgata Stainless Illumination recited a dhāraṇī to the bodhisattva Glorious Light. (2) The name of an eon in the past.

g.284

Stainless cakra flower

’khor lo dri med

འཁོར་ལོ་དྲི་མེད།

g.285

Stainless Illumination

dri ma med par snang ba

དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་སྣང་བ།

A tathāgata of the past world Stainless who recited a dhāraṇī for the bodhisattva Glorious Light.

g.286

Stream enterer

rgyun du zhugs pa

རྒྱུན་དུ་ཞུགས་པ།

srotāpanna

A person who has entered the “stream” of practice that leads to nirvāṇa. The first of the four attainments of the śrāvaka path.

g.287

Strengths

stobs

སྟོབས།

bala

See “five strengths” and “ten strengths.”

g.288

Stūpa

mchod rten

མཆོད་རྟེན།

stūpa

g.289

Śubhakṛtsna

dge rgyas

དགེ་རྒྱས།

Śubhakṛtsna

Ninth god realm of form, meaning “Most Extensive Virtue,” it is the highest of the three heavens that make up the third dhyāna heaven in the form realm.

g.290

Substratum consciousness

kun gzhi

ཀུན་གཞི།

ālaya

g.291

Suchness

de bzhin nyid

དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།

tathatā

Also translated here as “thusness.”

The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata

Toh 147

Ābhāsvara

Abodes of Brahmā

Absorption

Acceptance of reality

Action devoid of forgetfulness

Adorned by Ornaments

Afflictive emotion

Aggregate

Akaniṣṭha

All-Illumining and Unobstructed Gaze

All-Revealing Continuous Display of All Buddhafields

All-Revealing Unperturbed Subjugation through All Conduct

Anabhraka

Appearance of the Sovereign of Water

Appearing as Illumination

Application of mindfulness

Appropriation

Apramāṇābha

Apramāṇaśubha

Arhat

Array of all ornaments

Array of buddha ornaments

Asaṃjñisattva

Asura

Atapa

Avṛha

Bandé Yeshé Dé

Bases of miraculous power

Becoming

Beryl

Blessed one

Blessing of the buddha ornaments

Bodhicitta

Boon of the Dharma

Brahmā

Brahmā abode

Brahmā realm

Brahmakāyika

Brahma­pariṣadya

Brahma­purohita

Bṛhatphala

Brilliant Light Rays of the Collection of Fine Gold

Buddha Courage

Buddha play in unveiled liberation

Buddha qualities

Buddhafield

Calm

Capable one

Catur­mahā­rāja

Catur­mahā­rājakāyika

Compassion

Completely peaceful

Concentration

Conquering the entire retinue of Māra

Conqueror of All Sorrow

Consciousness

Consecration

Contamination

Correct exertions

Countless Qualities Precious Courage

Courage

Crown protuberance

Deep blue sapphire

Deer Park

Defilement

Deliverance

Brahmapariṣadya

Brahmapurohita

Caturmahārāja

Caturmahārājakāyika