འཇིག་རྟེན་འཛིན་གྱིས་ཡོངས་སུ་དྲིས་པ།

The Inquiry of Lokadhara

Lokadharaparipṛcchā

This webpage does not include the entire published text

The full translation is available to download as pdf at:
https://read.84000.co/data/toh174_84000-the-inquiry-of-lokadhara.pdf

འཕགས་པ་འཇིག་རྟེན་འཛིན་གྱིས་ཡོངས་སུ་དྲིས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་མདོ།

’phags pa ’jig rten ’dzin gyis yongs su dris pa zhes bya ba’i mdo

The Noble Sūtra “The Inquiry of Lokadhara”

Āryalokadharaparipṛcchānāmasūtra

Toh 174

Degé Kangyur, vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 7.b–78.b.

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

First published 2020
Current version v 1.1.13 (2020)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.1.18

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.

Logo for the license

This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.

s.

Summary

s.­1

In The Inquiry of Lokadhara, the bodhisattva Lokadhara asks the Buddha to explain the proper way for bodhisattvas to discern the characteristics of phenomena and employ that knowledge to attain awakening. In reply, the Buddha teaches at length how to understand the lack of inherent existence of phenomena. As part of the teaching, the Buddha explains in detail the nonexistence of the aggregates, the elements, the sense sources, dependently originated phenomena, the four applications of mindfulness, the five powers, the eightfold path of the noble ones, and mundane and transcendent phenomena, as well as conditioned and unconditioned phenomena.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

The sūtra was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation from the Tibetan was produced by Timothy Hinkle. Andreas Doctor checked the translation against the Tibetan, edited the text, and wrote the introduction. James Gentry subsequently compared the translation against Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation and made further edits.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

n.

Notes

n.­1
Herrmann-Pfandt, 2008.
n.­2
Alternatively, although less likely, the Sanskrit source text for the Tibetan translation could have been nearly identical to Kumārajīva’s source text.
n.­3
Both the Stok manuscript (Tib. rgya) and the Chinese (印) read “seal” here, whereas the Degé reads “causes” (Tib. rgyu).
n.­4
Translated based on the Chinese (衆生) and Stok (Tib. sems can). Degé reads: sems.
n.­5
The expression “evil world of the five degenerations” (Tib. rnyog pa lnga’i ’jig rten ngan pa) is a rare, literal translation of the Chinese, 五濁惡世, which in turn translates the Sanskrit pañcakaṣāyaloka. This is further evidence that the Tibetan was translated from Chinese.
n.­6
Translated based on Stok: ma yin. Degé reads: yin.
n.­7
Meaning that when one takes a raft across a river, one need not carry the raft beyond the bank; it has served its purpose.
n.­8
Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation of this sentence, as it appears in Taishō 482, seems to present a quotation: “Noble children, as explained in the discourses, ‘Monks, if those who want to know my Dharma are to discard even the Dharma as they would a raft, what need is there to mention what is non-Dharma?’ ” (諸善男子。如經中説。汝等比丘。若知我法如栰喩者。法尚應捨。何況非法。). Although the parable of the teachings being like a raft that must be discarded once it has served its purpose is well-known throughout Buddhist literature, we have been unable to locate this precise statement in other scriptures.
n.­9
Translated based on the Chinese: 若邪見者則爲妄見。是人不名爲眞見。. Degé reads: gang log par mthong ba de ni yang dag pa ma yin pa mthong ba ste gang zag de ni yang dag pa nyid mthong ba zhes bya’o.
n.­10
Translated based on the Chinese: 夢中色相無有決定。但以憶想故有。色陰相亦如是。從先世業因縁出。無有決定性。. Degé reads: ri dang / chu dang / nags tshal la sogs par mthong ste / de ltar rmi lam gyis gzugs kyi mtshan ma de la nges par chad pa med de rnam par brtags pa’i ’du shes las gzugs kyi phung po’i mtshan mar skyed pa yang de bzhin te / sngon gyi las kyi rgyu dang rkyen las skyes te nges pa’i rang bzhin can ma yin no.
n.­11
Translated based on the Chinese: 是菩薩爾時不滅色亦不求滅色法。. Degé reads: de ltar byang chub sems dpa’ de’i tshe gzugs mi ’gag gzugs ’gags pa’i chos tshol lo.
n.­12
Here “the five classes of beings” translates the Tibetan lam rgyud lnga. R. A. Stein (2010) suggests that lam rgyud lnga, or lam lnga, is a Tibetan rendering of the Chinese 五道. In fact, lam rgyud lnga appears almost exclusively in texts that are openly avowed to be translations from Chinese. This is perhaps the most compelling evidence to suggest a Chinese source text.
n.­13
Translated based on the Chinese: 亦不分別想陰滅。但爲滅一切想受陰故。亦住如實知見故。. Degé reads: ’du shes kyi phung po dgag par rnam par mi rtog pa ni ’du shes kyi tshor ba thams cad dgag pa’i phyir yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin shes shing mthong la gnas na’i phyir ro.
n.­14
Translated based on Stok, which includes …mi gnas par. This accords with the Chinese.
n.­15
“Mind, mentality, and consciousness” here respectively translate sems (Skt. citta), yid (Skt. manas), and rnam par shes pa (Skt. vijñāna).
n.­16
Translation of this sentence is tentative. This interpretive rendering is based on a comparison of the Tibetan and the Chinese. The Chinese reads: 分別虚妄事故。以一相故。以決定相故。能得是心是意是識。能得分別愛著。. Degé reads: rnam par rtog pa’i yang dag pa ma yin pa’i dngos po’i phyir / mtshan nyid gcig pa’i phyir / nges pa’i mtshan nyid gcig pa’i phyir sems de dang / yid dang / rnam par shes pa de thob cing chags pa rnam par ’byed pa la mkhas pa thob par ’gyur ro. Interestingly, the Chinese 分別 maps throughout the translation to both the Tibetan rnam par ’byed pa and rnam par rtog pa; and according to the online Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (www.buddhism-dict.net/ddb/), it is a possible translation of both the Sanskrit vibhaj and cognates like vibhāga, as well as vikalpa/saṃkalpa or even just kalpa. 能, for its part, typically lends an “agential” sense to its attached verb in the Chinese, so it could remain untranslated in Tibetan, but it can also be a translation of the Sanskrit terms kuśala, paṇḍita, and pravīṇa, all of which mkhas pa also renders. Perhaps this is a translation error from Chinese to Tibetan, possibly with an extra scribal “correction” added later due to misunderstanding, which would account for why the “childish ordinary people” would “attain skill in discerning attachment,” a concept that hardly makes sense in this context.
n.­17
Read according to Stok: ma skyes. Also, the Chinese reads: 不生。.
n.­18
Tibetan: ’khrul ’khor gyi mi; Chinese: 機關木人。. This Tibetan term appears only in Kangyur texts that were translated from Chinese.
n.­19
Translated according to the Chinese (壞) and other Tibetan variants instead of Degé, which reads: ’jog.
n.­20
Translated according to the Stok, which reads: gzugs med pa’i khams kyi lha’i nye bar len, and the Chinese, which also includes the word for “gods/devas” 諸天. Degé reads: gzugs med pa’i khams kyi nye bar len.
n.­21
Translation informed by the Chinese: …故。諸佛如來作如是分別説。. Degé does not show this sentence as explicitly introducing the following paragraph. A variant reading in the Chinese is missing 説. It reads, “the thus-gone buddhas analyzed as follows.”
n.­22
Tib. srid read as sred according to Stok and the Chinese.
n.­23
Translated from the Chinese: 從顛倒無明闇冥起。.
n.­24
Tentative translation. The Tibetan reads: nges par gcad pa (Skt. nirlūna). The Chinese reads 決定說五陰相, “speak/teach with certainty about the marks of the five aggregates,” or “speak about the marks of five aggregates as real.” Given the parallelism with the phrase below, which reads in Tibetan nges par/nges pa’i ’chad pa, and thus closely reflects the Chinese, the Tibetan nges par gcad pa is most likely a corruption of the former.
n.­25
Translation tentative. Tibetan: nges pa’i ’chad pa; Chinese: 決定說.
n.­26
Tib. sman pa read as smon pa according to Urga edition of the Kangyur, which accords with the Chinese: 所願.
n.­27
This accords also with the Chinese: 若坐若經行.
n.­28
Read according to Stok: dmigs su med and the Chinese: 不可得。.
n.­29
Interestingly, the Chinese here reads: 不合不散, “neither gathered nor separated.”
n.­30
Read according to the Chinese: 識所行處是眼識性。是識無決定故。説無決定相。 無生故。示虚妄故。能分別色相故。能示縁故。.
n.­31
This introductory phrase is supplied by the Chinese: 説是十八性…。.
n.­32
Translated in part according to the Chinese 離意性則無意。意性不能知意。假名字故説爲意性。. Degé reads: yid kyi khams las gud na yid dang yid kyi khams zhes ba ba med / yid du mi shes kyang bla dags su yid kyi khams zhes btags so.
n.­33
According to Yongle, Kangxi, Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok: …rang bzhin med pas rang bzhin nyid. This also reflects the Chinese: 法性無自性。自性不可得。. Degé reads: …rang bzhin nyid dmigs su med de.
n.­34
Reading informed by the Chinese: 但令衆生知見善不善法。以法性説離一切法相。.
n.­35
Read according to the Chinese: 聖人求之不可得。.
n.­36
Read according to the Chinese: 意識不知意性。意性不知意識。.
n.­37
Both “element” and “realm” here translate the same term (Skt. dhātu; Tib. khams), albeit used in different contexts.
n.­38
The eye and form.
n.­39
Sentence parsed according to the Chinese: 如來説是諸入知見相。.
n.­40
Read according to Stok, Yongle, Kangxi, Choné, and the Chinese.
n.­41
Read according to the Chinese: 如來如實通達故示是諸入。.
n.­42
The Chinese reads 行, “formations” here.
n.­43
The Chinese here reads “that all phenomena do not exist”: 一切法無所有。.
n.­44
Read according to the Chinese: 是六入因名色起。.
n.­45
Read according to the Chinese: 亦不離受有愛。.
n.­46
Here the Tibetan text includes a negation (Tib. ma), which we have not translated based on the previous occurrences of this sentence in which the negation is absent.
n.­47
Read according to the Chinese (老死憂悲苦惱亦不依生) and Stok (...skye ba la mi gnas).
n.­48
Read according to the Chinese: 作者受者。.
n.­49
Read according to Stok: chos zhes bya ba med na and Chinese, which analogously reads: 若法無者。.
n.­50
Glossed with the help of the Chinese: 不得自在不得隨意。作是不作是。. Degé reads: gzhan ma yin / dbang med pa / ’dir rang nyams byar med pa / byas pa’o nyam du sems so.
n.­51
Read according to Stok: mi ’gyur ba’i mtshan nyid med pa, and the Chinese: 無不變異相。.
n.­52
Read according to Stok: mi ’gyur ba med pa, and the Chinese: 無不變異相。.
n.­53
Here the Chinese reads: 空拳, “empty fist.”
n.­54
Reading med pa according to Yongle and Kangxi. Degé and other editions read mang po.
n.­55
Parsed according to the Chinese: 作是念諸受空性空故。.
n.­56
Read according to the Chinese: 念念生滅相續不斷故. Degé: skad cig skad cig gis sky zhing ’gog pa gcig gis bsags pa rgyun mi ’chad pas sems zhes bya ste.
n.­57
Read according to the Chinese: 客塵煩惱染故有分別。. Degé: blo bur gyi nyon mongs pas kun nas nyon mongs pa rnam par rtog kyang.
n.­58
Read according to the Chinese: 菩薩見知心清淨相。亦知衆生心清淨相。作是念。心垢故衆生垢。心淨故衆生淨。. Degé: byang chub sems dpa’ rnams bdag gi sems rnam par dag pa nyid du shes shing mthong bas sems can dag gi sems kyang rnam par dag par shes te snyam du sems so / sems dri ma yod pas na / sems rnam par dag pas na sems can yang rnam par dag pa’o.
n.­59
Read according to the Chinese: 所謂是諸法屬是人。諸法本體於諸法中無諸法。. Degé: ’di lta ste / chos thams cad gang zag dbang po zhes bya ba dang chos kyi ngo bo nyid ces bya ba ni chos thams cad chos zhes ba med de.
n.­60
Read according to the Chinese: 見一切法盡滅相寂滅相。. Degé: des chos thams cad kyi mi ’gog pa zad pa’i mtshan nyid dang rab tu zhi ba’i mtshan nyid kyang mthong ngo. As such, the Tibetan translation splits 盡滅 into ’gog pa and zad pa, though curiously it includes a negative mi prefix before the two, which clearly contrasts with the Chinese 盡滅相. Also, 盡滅 need not be split, since these two characters taken together in compound can also often mean “extinguished.”
n.­61
The Chinese would read here: “pure liberation and pure knowledge and experience of liberation”; 解脱清淨。解脱知見清淨。.
n.­62
Here “bring to mind” translates Tib. dran par byed, which could also be translated “remain mindful of.” The meaning here is that they analyze the nature of such actions in general, rather than observe them unfold in the present.
n.­63
Read according to Stok: ting nge ’dzin las dka’ ba’m chung ba med par ’dod pa bzhin du, and the Chinese: 於諸定中不以爲難不以爲少。隨意所欲。.
n.­64
This term (Tib. dbang po, Skt. indriya) has many uses and connotations, and can refer to the god Indra or someone who is similarly dominant in a particular arena. Thus the word conveys a sense of power and leadership.
n.­65
Tib. kyis read as kyi according to Urga.
n.­66
Tib. mkhas pa’i read as mkhas pas according to Yongle and Kangxi. Parsed according to the Chinese.
n.­67
Read according to the Chinese: 云何名爲正見。一切法寂滅。念相不生不滅同於涅槃。. Degé: de la ji ltar na yang dag par lta bas chos thams cad rab tu zhi ba dang / rang bzhin gyis mi skye mi ’gog cing mya ngan las ’das pa dang ’thun pa gang zhe na.
n.­68
Read according to the Chinese: 如是亦不念不分別是一切法。不念不分別不現在前。. Degé: ’di ltar mi rtog pa dang / rnam par mi rtog pa’i chos thams cad la mi rtog rnam par mi rtog mngon sum du byed ma yang ma yin.
n.­69
Alternately, Stok would read: “The cessation of thought is no thought,” (rnam par rtog pa bcad pa ni rnam par mi rtog pa’o), and the Chinese would read: “The cessation of thought is right thought” (斷分別是正分別。).
n.­70
Reading ’tsho according to Yongle and Kangxi. Degé and other versions read tshor.
n.­71
For example, according to monastic regulations, monks are permitted thirteen articles of livelihood, which include their robes and basic necessities like a washing rag, razor, and sitting mat.
n.­72
Translation tentative. Degé: kha tshar dar ’dzings pa.
n.­73
Read according to the Chinese: 云何為行自墮數中。. Degé: ’du byed cis bya ba ni bgrang ba’i grangs su gtogs.
n.­74
The three characteristics are arising, remaining, and ceasing.
n.­75
Reading informed by the Chinese: 亦得如是諸法實相方便.
n.­76
Read informed by the Chinese: 所謂善觀一切法無量縁。觀一切法無量方便。亦觀無量方便起。. Variant readings provide the following for this phrase: 所謂善觀諸法無量縁。觀一切無量方便。亦觀無量方便起。. This would alternatively read: “It means contemplating the limitless conditions of Dharma teachings, contemplating the skillful application of all the limitless [conditions], and contemplating the emergence of limitless skillful applications. The Tibetan reads: chos thams cad kyi rkyen tshad med pa la rtog pa dang / tshad med pa thams cad kyi rtog pa la sbyor ba dang ldan pa’i sbyor ba’i tshad pa la rtog pa’o/.
n.­77
Degé reads “Lokadhara,” but this seems to be an error.
n.­78
Tib. zhing omitted according to Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné.
b.

Bibliography

’phags pa ’jig rten ’dzin gyis yongs su dris pa zhes bya ba’i mdo (Āryālokadhara­paripṛcchānāma­sūtra). Toh 174, Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 7b.4–78b.7.

’phags pa ’jig rten ’dzin gyis yongs su dris pa zhes bya ba’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 60, pp. 22–206.

’phags pa ’jig rten ’dzin gyis yongs su dris pa zhes bya ba’i mdo (Āryālokadhara­paripṛcchānāma­sūtra). In bka’ ’gyur (stog pho brang bris ma). Vol. 72 (mdo sde, zha), folios 1r–110v.

Chang, Cornelius P. “A Re-evaluation of the Development of Hsing-su Style in the Fourth Century AD.” National Palace Museum Quarterly, 11/2 (Winter 1976): 19–44.

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism. http://www.buddhism-dict.net/ddb/.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Wien: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.

Lokadharaparipṛcchā; Chishi jing 持世經 (Taishō 482). Translated by Kumārajīva. In Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經, ed. Junjirō Takakusu, Kaikyoku Watanabe, 100 vols., Tokyo: Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō Kankōkai, 1924–34.

Stein, R. A. “The Two Vocabularies of Indo-Tibetan and Sino-Tibetan Translations in the Dunhuang Manuscripts.” In Rolf Stein’s Tibetica Antiqua with Additional Materials, trans. and ed. Arthur P. McKeown. Leiden: Brill, 2010, pp. 1–96.

g.

Glossary

g.­1

Absorption

  • ting nge ’dzin
  • ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
  • samādhi

A general term for states of deep concentration. One of the synonyms for meditation, referring in particular to a state of complete concentration or focus.

20 passages contain this term
g.­2

Acceptance

  • bzod pa
  • བཟོད་པ།
  • kṣānti

The capacity to accept or tolerate experiences which ordinary beings cannot tolerate. It is the preparatory step to profound insight into reality. It also refers to the third stage of the path of joining (prayogamārga, sbyor lam). It is also the third transcendent perfection, in which context it has been rendered here as patience.

8 passages contain this term
g.­4

Aggregate for appropriation

  • nye bar len pa’i phung po
  • ཉེ་བར་ལེན་པའི་ཕུང་པོ།
  • upādānaskandha

See “five aggregates for appropriation.”

5 passages contain this term
g.­5

Ānanda

  • dga’ bo
  • དགའ་བོ།
  • Ānanda
5 passages contain this term
g.­6

Anguished spirit

  • yi dwags
  • ཡི་དྭགས།
  • preta

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, considered to be the karmic fruition of past miserliness. In Sanskrit, literally “the departed”; they are analagous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. They live in the realm of Yama, the Lord of Death. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

4 passages contain this term
g.­7

Applications of mindfulness

  • dran pa nye bar bzhag pa
  • དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་བཞག་པ།
  • smṛtyupasthāna

See “four applications of mindfulness.”

3 passages contain this term
g.­8

Apprehension

  • dmigs pa
  • དམིགས་པ།
  • ālambana
  • upalabdhi

A term for the apprehension of a subject, an object, and the relationships that exist between subjects and objects. The term might also be translated as “referentiality,” meaning a system based on the existence of referent objects, referent subjects, and the referential relationships that exist between them. As part of their doctrine of “threefold non-apprehension/non-referentiality” (’khor gsum mi dmigs pa), Mahāyāna Buddhists famously assert that all three categories of apprehension lack substantiality.

11 passages contain this term
g.­9

Appropriation

  • nye bar len pa
  • len pa
  • ཉེ་བར་ལེན་པ།
  • ལེན་པ།
  • upādāna

In some texts, four types of appropriation are listed: of desire (rāga), of view (dṛṣṭi), of rules and observances as paramount (śīla­vrata­parāmarśa), and of belief in a self (ātmavāda). The term nye bar len pa also means “grasping” and it was rendered as such when it refers to the ninth of the twelve links of dependent origination, between craving and becoming.

15 passages contain this term
g.­10

Apramāṇābha

  • tshad med ’od
  • ཚད་མེད་འོད།
  • Apramāṇābha

A buddha from the past.

1 passage contains this term
g.­11

Ascetic practice

  • sbyangs pa’i yon tan
  • སྦྱངས་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན།
  • dhūtaguṇa

An optional set of thirteen practices that monastics can adopt in order to cultivate greater detachment. They consist of 1) wearing patched robes made from discarded cloth rather than from cloth donated by laypeople; 2) wearing only three robes; 3) going for alms; 4) not omitting any house while on the alms round, rather than begging only at those houses known to provide good food; 5) eating only what can be eaten in one sitting; 6) eating only food received in the alms bowl, rather than more elaborate meals presented to the Saṅgha; 7) refusing more food after indicating one has eaten enough; 8) dwelling in the forest; 9) dwelling at the root of a tree; 10) dwelling in the open air, using only a tent made from one’s robes as shelter; 11) dwelling in a charnel ground; 12) satisfaction with whatever dwelling one has; and 13) sleeping in a sitting position without ever lying down.

1 passage contains this term
g.­12

Asura

  • lha ma yin
  • ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།
  • asura

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

2 passages contain this term
g.­13

Bhadrapāla

  • bzang skyong
  • བཟང་སྐྱོང་།
  • Bhadrapāla

A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.

5 passages contain this term
g.­14

Blessed One

  • bcom ldan ’das
  • བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
  • bhagavat
  • bhagavān

In Buddhist literature, an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generically means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts 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.”

38 passages contain this term
g.­15

Blissful one

  • bde bar gshegs pa
  • བདེ་བར་གཤེགས་པ།
  • sugata

Epithet of a buddha, meaning “one who has reached bliss.”

5 passages contain this term
g.­16

Bodhisattva Collection

  • byang chub kyi sde snod
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྡེ་སྣོད།
  • bodhisattvapiṭaka

An old term for Mahāyāna corpus.

4 passages contain this term
g.­17

Body of form

  • gzugs kyi sku
  • གཟུགས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།
  • rūpakāya

The dimension of a buddha that corresponds to relative truth and is perceptible to either ordinary beings (nirmāṇakāya) or sublime beings (saṃbhogakāya).

1 passage contains this term
g.­18

Bringer of Benefit

  • phan par ’gyur ba
  • ཕན་པར་འགྱུར་བ།
  • —

A king in Royal Mountain of Great Intelligence’s buddha realm.

4 passages contain this term
g.­19

Buddha realm

  • sangs rgyas kyi zhing
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཞིང་།
  • buddhakṣetra

A pure realm manifested by a buddha or advanced bodhisattva through the power of their great merit and aspirations.

11 passages contain this term
g.­20

Conditioned

  • ’dus byas
  • འདུས་བྱས།
  • saṃ­skṛta

This term refers to composite objects in the generic sense. In other contexts, it can also refer to “formations.”

21 passages contain this term
g.­21

Consciousness

  • rnam par shes pa
  • རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ།
  • vi­jñāna

The third link of dependent origination, the fifth of the five aggregates. In most Abhidharma accounts it comprises the six sensory consciousnesses (eye, ear, nose, taste, body, and mind), but in Yogācāra theory two more kinds of consciousness, afflicted (kliṣṭamanas) and storehouse (ālayavijñāna), are added. For the sixth consciousness, see also “mind consciousness.”

32 passages contain this term
g.­22

Definitive meaning

  • nges pa’i don
  • ངེས་པའི་དོན།
  • nītārtha

The ultimate meaning of a given Dharma teaching.

7 passages contain this term
g.­23

Desire realm

  • ’dod khams
  • འདོད་ཁམས།
  • kāmadhātu

In Buddhist cosmology, it is our sphere of existence where beings are driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification.

8 passages contain this term
g.­24

Dhāraṇī

  • gzungs
  • གཟུངས།
  • dhāraṇī

Usually this term refers to a statement, or spell, meant to protect or bring about a particular result. Here however, the term also has the meaning of “recall” or “memory.”

3 passages contain this term
g.­25

Dharma

  • chos
  • ཆོས།
  • dharma

The term “dharma” (chos) conveys ten different meanings, according to Vasubandhu’s Vyākhyā­yukti. It may mean the Buddhist teachings, the awakened qualities which buddhas and bodhisattvas acquire, phenomena or things in general, etc. In the context of this work, it was rendered as “Dharma” when it refers to the teachings, and in other contexts, rendered according to the specific meaning, namely as phenomena and qualities. See also i.­4.

53 passages contain this term
g.­26

Dharma body

  • chos kyi sku
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།
  • dharmakāya

One of the subdivisions in the collection of dharmas that constitutes a Buddha, variously explained but usually more closely related to the aspect of ultimate truth.

1 passage contains this term
g.­27

Dharma gateway

  • chos kyi sgo
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྒོ།
  • dharmamukha

A teaching or spiritual method by which the Dharma is understood.

3 passages contain this term
g.­28

Dīpaṅkara

  • mar me mdzad
  • མར་མེ་མཛད།
  • Dīpaṅkara

One of the most reknowned of former buddhas.

1 passage contains this term
g.­29

Eighteen elements

  • khams bco brgyad
  • ཁམས་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།
  • aṣṭa­daśa­dhātu

One way of describing experience and the world in terms of eighteen elements (eye, form, and eye consciousness; ear, sound, and ear consciousness; nose, odor, and nose consciousness; tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness; body, touch, and body consciousness; mind, mental phenomena, and mind consciousness).

14 passages contain this term
g.­30

Eightfold path of the noble ones

  • ’phags pa’i lam yan lag brgyad pa
  • འཕགས་པའི་ལམ་ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་པ།
  • āryāṣṭāṅgamārga

Correct view, thought, speech, actions, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and absorption. These eight are part of the thirty-seven factors of awakening.

8 passages contain this term
g.­32

Factors of awakening

  • byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།
  • bodhipakṣadharma

The set of practices that lead to awakening, traditionally listed as thirty-seven.

8 passages contain this term
g.­33

Feeling

  • tshor ba
  • ཚོར་བ།
  • vedanā

The seventh link of dependent origination. The second of the five aggregates.

23 passages contain this term
g.­34

Five aggregates for appropriation

  • nye bar len pa’i phung po lnga
  • phung po lnga
  • ཉེ་བར་ལེན་པའི་ཕུང་པོ་ལྔ།
  • ཕུང་པོ་ལྔ།
  • pañcopadāna­skandha
  • pañcaskandha

The five aggregates (skandha) of form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected. They are referred to as the “bases for appropriation” (upādāna) insofar as all conceptual grasping arises on the basis of these aggregates.

30 passages contain this term
g.­35

Five degenerations

  • snyigs ma lnga
  • སྙིགས་མ་ལྔ།
  • pañcakaṣāya

The five degenerations are: (1) degeneration of life span, (2) degeneration of views, (3) degeneration of the afflictions (4) degeneration of beings, and (5) the degeneration of the era.

3 passages contain this term
g.­36

Five mental obscurations

  • sgrib pa lnga
  • སྒྲིབ་པ་ལྔ།
  • pañcanīvaraṇa

Longing for desires (kāmacchanda), malice (vyāpāda), sloth and torpor (styānamiddha), excitement and remorse (auddhatyakaukṛtya), and doubt (vicikitsā).

4 passages contain this term
g.­37

Five powers

  • dbang po lnga
  • དབང་པོ་ལྔ།
  • pañcendriya

Faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and insight. These are the same as the five strengths at a lesser stage of development. See also n.­64.

11 passages contain this term
g.­38

Five strengths

  • stobs lnga
  • སྟོབས་ལྔ།
  • pañca­bala

Faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and insight. These are the same as the five powers, at a further stage of development.

3 passages contain this term
g.­40

Form realm

  • gzugs khams
  • གཟུགས་ཁམས།
  • rūpadhātu

In Buddhist cosmology, the sphere of existence one level more subtle than our own (the desire realm), where beings, though subtly embodied, are not driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification.

4 passages contain this term
g.­41

Formation

  • ’du byed
  • འདུ་བྱེད།
  • saṃskāra

Fourth of the five aggregates, second of the twelve links of dependent origination, and in the context of the aggregates sometimes also called “volitions,” “volitional formations,” or “compositional factors,” these are complex propensities that bring about action.

31 passages contain this term
g.­42

Formless realm

  • gzugs med khams
  • གཟུགས་མེད་ཁམས།
  • ārūpyadhātu

In Buddhist cosmology, the sphere of existence two levels more subtle than our own (the desire realm), where beings are no longer physically embodied, and thus not subject to the sufferings that physical embodiment brings.

7 passages contain this term
g.­43

Four applications of mindfulness

  • dran pa nye bar bzhag pa bzhi
  • དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་བཞག་པ་བཞི།
  • catuhsmṛtyupasthāna

Four contemplations on: (1) the body, (2) feelings, (3) mind, and (4) mental objects. These four contemplations are part of the thirty-seven factors of awakening.

12 passages contain this term
g.­44

Four concentrations

  • bsam gtan bzhi
  • བསམ་གཏན་བཞི།
  • caturdhyāna

The four levels of mental absorption practiced by the gods in the formless realms: (1) the sphere of infinite space, (2) the sphere of infinite consciousness, (3) the sphere of nothingness, and (4) the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception.

1 passage contains this term
g.­45

Four correct exertions

  • yang dag par spong ba bzhi
  • ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།
  • catuḥsamyakprahāṇa
  • catuḥsamyakpradāṇa

Four types of effort consisting in abandoning existing negative mind states, abandoning the production of such states, giving rise to virtuous mind states that are not yet produced, and letting those states continue.

2 passages contain this term
g.­46

Four foundations of miracles

  • rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa gzhi
  • རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ་གཞི།
  • caturṛddhipāda

The four foundations or bases of miraculous power are: determination, discernment, diligence, and absorption. These are among the thirty-seven factors of awakening.

2 passages contain this term
g.­47

Four great elements

  • chen po bzhi
  • ’byung ba chen po bzhi
  • ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།
  • འབྱུང་བ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།
  • mahābhūta

The four “main” or “great” outer elements of earth, water, fire, air, and (when there is a fifth) space.

4 passages contain this term
g.­48

Four types of fearlessness

  • mi ’jigs pa rnam pa bzhi
  • མི་འཇིགས་པ་རྣམ་པ་བཞི།
  • caturvaiśāradya
  • caturabhaya

This refers to the four confidences or fearlessnesses of the Buddha: confidence in having attained realization, confidence in having attained elimination, confidence in teaching the Dharma, and confidence in teaching the path of aspiration to liberation.

1 passage contains this term
g.­49

Gandharva

  • dri za
  • དྲི་ཟ།
  • gandharva

A class of spirits, sometimes described as celestial musicians. In other contexts the term can also refer to beings in the bardo-state.

1 passage contains this term
g.­50

Garuḍa

  • nam mkha’ lding
  • ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་།
  • garuḍa

Lower class of divine being, described as an eagle-type bird with a gigantic wingspan. They were traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they were thought to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth.

1 passage contains this term
g.­51

God

  • lha
  • ལྷ།
  • deva

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, specifically engendered and dominated by exaltation, indulgence, and pride. According to Buddhist cosmology, the gods are said to exist in many levels of celestial or divine realms, higher than that of the human realm, within in the desire realm, in the form realm, and in the formless realm.

21 passages contain this term
g.­52

Great trichiliocosm

  • stong gsum gyi stong chen po’i ’jig rten gyi khams
  • སྟོང་གསུམ་གྱི་སྟོང་ཆེན་པོའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།
  • tri­sāhasra­mahā­sāhasra­loka­dhātu

The largest universe spoken of in Buddhist cosmology, consisting of one billion smaller world systems.

4 passages contain this term
g.­53

Hearer

  • nyan thos
  • ཉན་ཐོས།
  • śrāvaka

It is usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily it refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat by seeking self liberation and nirvāṇa.

10 passages contain this term
g.­54

Heaven of Joy

  • dga’ ldan
  • དགའ་ལྡན།
  • Tuṣita

One of the six heavens of the desire realm, where all future buddhas dwell prior to their awakening.

1 passage contains this term
g.­55

Heaven of the Thirty-Three

  • sum cu rtsa gsum
  • སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ།
  • Trāyastriṃśa

One of the six heavens of the desire realm.

2 passages contain this term
g.­56

Hell being

  • sems can dmyal ba
  • སེམས་ཅན་དམྱལ་བ།
  • naraka

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, engendered by anger and powerful negative actions. They are dominated by great suffering and said to dwell in eight different hells with specific caracteristics.

4 passages contain this term
g.­57

Inferred meaning

  • bkri ba’i don
  • བཀྲི་བའི་དོན།
  • neyārtha

Meaning which can be logically inferred from a Dharma teaching, though is stated explicitely.

3 passages contain this term
g.­58

Insight

  • shes rab
  • ཤེས་རབ།
  • prajñā

The sixth of the six perfections, it refers to the profound understanding of the emptiness of all phenomena, the realization of ultimate reality. It is also one of the five powers.

49 passages contain this term
g.­59

Jambudvīpa

  • ’dzam bu’i gling
  • འཛམ་བུའི་གླིང་།
  • Jambudvīpa

The southern continent, one the four comprising our world in the Buddhist cosmology.

3 passages contain this term
g.­60

Kalandaka­nivāpa

  • bya ka lan ta ka
  • བྱ་ཀ་ལན་ཏ་ཀ
  • Kalandaka­nivāpa

Literally, “The kalandaka Feeding Ground,” a location within the Veṇuvana where the Buddha stayed; it received its name from the many kalandaka that lived or were fed there. The Tibetan rendering bya ka lan da ka makes it clear that the Tibetans considered the kalandaka to be a kind of bird, while Sanskrit and Pali sources generally agree that it is a kind of squirrel—perhaps therefore the Indian flying squirrel, Petaurista philippensis.

1 passage contains this term
g.­61

King of Immeasurable Stacked Flowers

  • tshad med pa’i me tog brtsegs pa’i rgyal po
  • ཚད་མེད་པའི་མེ་ཏོག་བརྩེགས་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

A buddha who resides to the east of our world.

1 passage contains this term
g.­62

King of Lofty and Immeasurable Power

  • tshad med pa stobs mtho ba’i rgyal po
  • ཚད་མེད་པ་སྟོབས་མཐོ་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

A buddha from the past.

1 passage contains this term
g.­63

King of Lofty Wisdom

  • ye shes mtho ba’i rgyal po
  • ཡེ་ཤེས་མཐོ་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

A buddha from the past.

1 passage contains this term
g.­64

Kinnara

  • mi’am ci
  • མིའམ་ཅི།
  • kinnara

A class of semidivine beings known for their musical skills, depicted as half horse and half human, or half bird and half human.

1 passage contains this term
g.­65

Limitless Intelligence

  • tshad med blo gros
  • ཚད་མེད་བློ་གྲོས།
  • —

A son of King Bringer of Benefit and a bodhisattva in a story told by the Buddha.

5 passages contain this term
g.­66

Limitless Light

  • tshad med ’od
  • ཚད་མེད་འོད།
  • —

Limitless Power upon his awakening.

1 passage contains this term
g.­67

Limitless Power

  • tshad med stobs
  • ཚད་མེད་སྟོབས།
  • —

A son of King Bringer of Benefit.

3 passages contain this term
g.­68

Limitless Voice

  • tshad med dbyangs
  • ཚད་མེད་དབྱངས།
  • —

Limitless Intelligence upon his awakening.

1 passage contains this term
g.­70

Mahoraga

  • lto ’phye chen po
  • ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahoraga

Literally “large serpent.” A subterranean semi-divine being that takes the form of a large serpent, sometimes with a human torso and head.

1 passage contains this term
g.­71

Maitreya

  • byams pa
  • བྱམས་པ།
  • Maitreya
1 passage contains this term
g.­72

Majestic Mount Meru of Gold from the Jambū River

  • ’dzam bu chu klung gi gser gyi ri rab ri’i rgyal po
  • འཛམ་བུ་ཆུ་ཀླུང་གི་གསེར་གྱི་རི་རབ་རིའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

A buddha from the past.

4 passages contain this term
g.­73

Mind consciousness

  • yid kyi rnam par shes pa
  • ཡིད་ཀྱི་རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ།
  • manovijñāna

This is also known as the sixth consciouness and is the last of the eighteen elements. The Abhidharma speaks of five consciousnesses that grasp physical objects (form, sound, smells, tastes, bodily sensations) and are correlated with their respective physical sense faculties (indriya, dbang po), i.e. the eye, ear, etc. The mind consciousness, on the other hand, is said to have as its faculty simply the mind (manas, yid). It grasps all that exists, including what is presented by the physical consciousnesses as well as mental and abstract objects. These six consciousnesses, added to the twelve sense sources, constitute the Abhidharma schema of eighteen elements (dhātu, khams).

5 passages contain this term
g.­74

Motivation

  • lhag pa’i bsam pa
  • ལྷག་པའི་བསམ་པ།
  • adhyāśaya

See “pure motivation.”

3 passages contain this term
g.­75

Nāga

  • klu
  • ཀླུ།
  • nāga

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

2 passages contain this term
g.­76

Non-Buddhist

  • mu stegs can
  • མུ་སྟེགས་ཅན།
  • tīrthika

A follower of one of the non-Buddhist religious systems in India, who from a Buddhist perspective promote extreme views on the nature of reality.

2 passages contain this term
g.­77

Obscuration

  • sgrib pa
  • སྒྲིབ་པ།
  • nīvaraṇa

That which obscurs insight into reality.

5 passages contain this term
g.­78

Ornament of Certainty in Any Subject

  • don thams cad gdon mi za ba’i rgyan
  • དོན་ཐམས་ཅད་གདོན་མི་ཟ་བའི་རྒྱན།
  • —

The buddha that Ratnaprabha becomes.

1 passage contains this term
g.­79

Parinirvāṇa

  • yongs su mya ngan las ’das pa
  • ཡོངས་སུ་མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
  • parinirvāṇa

Nirvāṇa, the state beyond sorrow, denotes the ultimate attainment of buddhahood, the permanent cessation of all suffering and the afflicted mental states which cause and perpetuate suffering, along with all misapprehension with regard to the nature of emptiness. As such, it is the antithesis of cyclic existence. Three types of nirvāṇa are identified: (1) the residual nirvāṇa where the person is still dependent on conditioned psycho-physical aggregates, (2) the non-residual nirvāṇa where the aggregates have also been consumed within emptiness, and (3) the non-abiding nirvāṇa transcending the extremes of phenomenal existence and quiescence. Parinirvāṇa or final nirvāṇa implies the non-residual attainment.

8 passages contain this term
g.­82

Pure motivation

  • lhag pa’i bsam pa
  • ལྷག་པའི་བསམ་པ།
  • adhyāśaya

A strong sense of determination, often associated with altruism.

2 passages contain this term
g.­83

Rājagṛha

  • rgyal po’i khab
  • རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།
  • Rājagṛha

The ancient capital of Magadha; the site where many Great Vehicle sūtras take place.

2 passages contain this term
g.­84

Ratnaprabha

  • rin chen ’od
  • རིན་ཆེན་འོད།
  • Ratnaprabha

A bodhisattva in Majestic Mount Meru of Gold from the Jambū River’s assembly.

4 passages contain this term
g.­85

Reality

  • chos nyid
  • ཆོས་ཉིད།
  • dharmatā

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).

8 passages contain this term
g.­86

Royal Array of Boundless Light

  • tshad med ’od kyi bkod pa’i rgyal po
  • ཚད་མེད་འོད་ཀྱི་བཀོད་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

The buddha that the bodhisattva Limitless Intelligence becomes.

1 passage contains this term
g.­87

Royal Light of Limitless Qualities

  • tshad med yon tan ’od kyi rgyal po
  • ཚད་མེད་ཡོན་ཏན་འོད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

A buddha from the past.

2 passages contain this term
g.­88

Royal Mountain of Great Intelligence

  • blo gros chen po ri’i rgyal po
  • བློ་གྲོས་ཆེན་པོ་རིའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
  • —

A buddha from the past.

4 passages contain this term
g.­89

Sense source

  • skye mched
  • སྐྱེ་མཆེད།
  • āyatana

These can be listed as twelve or as six sense sources (sometimes also called sense fields, bases of cognition, or simply āyatanas):

In context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: 1-2) eye and form, 3-4) ear and sound, 5-6) nose and odor, 7-8) tongue and taste, 9-10) body and touch, 11-12) mind and mental phenomena. (These are subsumed in the eighteen elements, where to the twelve sense sources, the six consciousnesses are added.)

In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned and they are the inner sense sources (similar to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

16 passages contain this term
g.­90

Seven aspects of awakening

  • byang chub kyi yan lag bdun
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག་བདུན།
  • saptabodhyaṅga

The set of seven factors that characteristically manifest on the path of seeing.

1 passage contains this term
g.­91

Seven precious substances

  • rin po che sna bdun
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྣ་བདུན།
  • saptaratna

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

2 passages contain this term
g.­92

Six sense sources

  • skye mched bcu gnyis
  • སྐྱེ་མཆེད་བཅུ་གཉིས།
  • ṣaḍāyatana

See sense source.”

4 passages contain this term
g.­93

Solitary buddha

  • rang sangs rgyas
  • རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
  • pratyekabuddha

Literally, “buddha for himself,” or “solitary realizer.” Those who attain buddhahood in a time when the Buddha’s doctrine is no longer available in the world, and who remain either in solitude or among peers, without teaching the path to liberation to others. Their attainment is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary accumulated merit nor the motivation to teach others.

4 passages contain this term
g.­94

Special insight

  • lhag mthong
  • ལྷག་མཐོང་།
  • vipaśyanā

An important form of Buddhist meditation focusing on developing insight into the nature of phenomena. Often presented as part of a pair of meditation techniques, the other being “tranquility.”

2 passages contain this term
g.­95

Spiritual friend

  • dge ba’i bshes gnyen
  • དགེ་བའི་བཤེས་གཉེན།
  • kalyāṇamitra

A personal tutor on spiritual matters; a spritual guide.

1 passage contains this term
g.­96

Suchness

  • de bzhin nyid
  • དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།
  • tathatā

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 reality (dharmatā, chos nyid).

5 passages contain this term
g.­97

Ten strengths

  • stobs bcu
  • སྟོབས་བཅུ།
  • daśabala

A category of the distinctive qualities of a buddha. They are: knowing what is possible and what is impossible; knowing the results of actions or the ripening of karma; knowing the various inclinations of sentient beings; knowing the various elements; knowing the supreme and lesser faculties of sentient beings; knowing the paths that lead to all destinations of rebirth; knowing the concentrations, liberations, absorptions, equilibriums, afflictions, purifications, and abidings; knowing previous lives; knowing the death and rebirth of sentient beings; and knowing the cessation of the defilements.

1 passage contains this term
g.­98

Thatness

  • de kho na nyid
  • དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད།
  • tattva

The nature of things or their actual state, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Akin to other terms rendered here as suchness (tathatā, de bzhin nyid), true reality (bhūtatā, yang dag pa nyid), and reality (dharmatā, chos nyid).

6 passages contain this term
g.­99

Three gateways of liberation

  • rnam thar sgo gsum
  • རྣམ་ཐར་སྒོ་གསུམ།
  • trivimokṣadvāra

These are: emptiness as a gateway to liberation, absence of marks of all phenomena as a gateway to liberation, and absence of wishes as a gateway to liberation. Among them, emptiness is characterized as the absence of inherent existence, absence of marks as the absence of mental images, and absence of wishes as the absence of hopes and fears.

2 passages contain this term
g.­100

Three realms

  • khams gsum
  • ཁམས་གསུམ།
  • tridhātu
  • triloka

The formless realm, the form realm, and the desire realm comprising the thirty-one planes of existence in Buddhist cosmology.

9 passages contain this term
g.­101

Thus-gone one

  • de bzhin gshegs pa
  • དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
  • tathāgata

A frequently used synonym for a buddha. The expression is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has arrived at the realization of the ultimate state. Here also used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

34 passages contain this term
g.­102

Tranquility

  • zhi gnas
  • ཞི་གནས།
  • śamatha

One of the basic forms of Buddhist meditation, which focuses on calming the mind. Often presented as part of a pair of meditation techniques, with the other technique being “special insight.”

2 passages contain this term
g.­103

Transcendent phenomena

  • ’jig rten las ’das pa’i chos
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་ལས་འདས་པའི་ཆོས།
  • lokottaradharma

Lit. “dharmas beyond the world.” Trancendent or supramundane phenomena are things or factors related to liberation from saṃsāra. These include, for example, the four applications of mindfulness, the four correct exertions, the four foundations of miracles, the five powers, the five strengths, the seven branches of awakening, the eightfold path of the noble ones, the three gateways of liberation, and many other techniques and qualities of attainment. See also “worldly phenomena.”

7 passages contain this term
g.­104

True reality

  • yang dag pa nyid
  • ཡང་དག་པ་ཉིད།
  • bhūtatā

Lit. “genuineness” or “authenticity.” 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), suchness (tathatā, de bzhin nyid), and reality (dharmatā, chos nyid).

11 passages contain this term
g.­105

Twelve links of dependent origination

  • rten cing ’brel bar byung ba’i yang lag bcu gnyis
  • རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་བྱུང་བའི་ཡང་ལག་བཅུ་གཉིས།
  • dvādaśāṅgapratītyasamutpāda

The twelve causal links that perpetuate life in cyclic existence; starting with ignorance and ending with death. Through a deliberate reversal of these twelve links that one can succeed in bringing the whole cycle to an end. The twelve links are (1) ignorance, (2) formation, (3) consciousness, (4) name-and-form, (5) six sense sources, (6) contact, (7) feeling, (8) craving, (9) grasping, (10) becoming, (11) birth, (12) aging and death.

17 passages contain this term
g.­106

Twelve sense sources

  • skye mched bcu gnyis
  • སྐྱེ་མཆེད་བཅུ་གཉིས།
  • dvā­daśāyatana

See “sense source.”

12 passages contain this term
g.­107

Veṇuvana

  • ’od ma’i tshal
  • འོད་མའི་ཚལ།
  • Veṇuvana

The famous bamboo grove near Rājagṛha where the Buddha regularly stayed and gave teachings. It was situated on land donated by King Bimbisāra of Magadha and, as such, was the first of several landholdings donated to the Buddhist comunity during the time of the Buddha.

3 passages contain this term
g.­108

Water of the eight qualities

  • yon tan brgyad kyi chu
  • ཡོན་ཏན་བརྒྱད་ཀྱི་ཆུ།
  • —

The eight qualities of water: (1) sweet-tasting; (2) cool; (3) soft; (4) light; (5) transparent; (6) clean; (7) not harmful to the throat; and (8) beneficial to the stomach.

2 passages contain this term
g.­109

Wisdom

  • ye shes
  • ཡེ་ཤེས།
  • jñāna

Also known as “pristine awareness,” “primordial wisdom,” “primordial awareness,” “gnosis,” or the like. Typically refers to nonconceptual or unobscured states of knowledge.

31 passages contain this term
g.­110

World and transcendence

  • ’jig rten dang ’jig rten las ’das pa
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་དང་འཇིག་རྟེན་ལས་འདས་པ།
  • lokalokottara

See “worldly phenomena” and “transcendent phenomena.”

7 passages contain this term
g.­111

Worldly phenomena

  • ’jig rten gyi chos
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཆོས།
  • lokadharma

It refers to things or factors that are bound by causality. In some contexts, it is the eight worldy dharmas or concerns. See also “transcendent phenomena.”

7 passages contain this term
g.­112

Yakṣa

  • gnod sbyin
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
  • yakṣa

A class of semidivine beings said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa, otherwise known as Kubera.

1 passage contains this term
0

Contents

Search this translation

Download Options

Download PDF
Download EPUB
Download AZW3 (Kindle)

Other Links

84000 Homepage
Reading Room Lobby
All Published Translations
Search the Reading Room
Our Sponsors
Sponsor Translation

Bookmarks