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The full text is available to download as pdf at:
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དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ།

The Teaching of Vimalakīrti
The Goddess

Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa
འཕགས་པ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Teaching of Vimalakīrti”
Ārya­vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra
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Toh 176

Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175.a–239.a

First published 2017
Current version v 1.45.19 (2022)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.17.7

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgments
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 12 chapters- 12 chapters
1. Purification of the Buddhafield
2. Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art
3. The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakīrti
4. The Consolation of the Invalid
5. The Inconceivable Liberation
6. The Goddess
7. The Family of the Tathāgatas
8. The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
9. The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation
10. Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible
11. Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya
12. Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma
c. Colophon
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Tibetan and Sanskrit sources
· Translations of this text
· Canonical references
· Editions and translations of works referenced
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

While the Buddha is teaching outside the city of Vaiśālī, a notable householder in the city‍—the great bodhisattva Vimalakīrti‍—apparently falls sick. The Buddha asks his disciple and bodhisattva disciples to call on Vimalakīrti, but each of them relates previous encounters that have rendered them reluctant to face his penetrating scrutiny of their attitudes and activities. Only Mañjuśrī has the courage to pay him a visit, and in the conversations that ensue between Vimalakīrti, Mañjuśrī, and several other interlocutors, Vimalakīrti sets out an uncompromising and profound view of the Buddha’s teaching and the bodhisattva path, illustrated by various miraculous displays. Its masterful narrative structure, dramatic and sometimes humorous dialogue, and highly evolved presentation of teachings have made this sūtra one of the favorites of Mahāyāna literature.


ac.

Acknowledgments

ac.­1

Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman and first published, under the title The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti: A Mahāyāna Scripture, by the Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park and London, in 1976.

This electronic edition for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, with an abridged introduction and notes, and lightly edited under the supervision of Professor Thurman, is published by his kind permission as the copyright holder.

From the Preface to the original edition:

I sincerely thank my friend and benefactor, Dr. C. T. Shen, both for his sponsorship of the work and for his most helpful collaboration in the work of comparing the Tibetan and Chinese versions. We were sometimes joined in our round-table discussions by Drs. C. S. George, Tao-Tien Yi, F. S. K. Koo, and T. C. Tsao, whose helpful suggestions I gratefully acknowledge. My thanks also go to Ms. Yeshe Tsomo and Ms. Leah Zahler for their invaluable editorial assistance, and to Ms. Carole Schwager and the staff of The Pennsylvania State University Press.

Preface to this electronic edition:

I earnestly thank Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche for his great efforts in creating the 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha project, to present in English the many great works of the Buddha’s teachings freely to the world.

I also thank John Canti, of 84000, for his careful, creative, and very learned translating and editorial work on this electronic edition, without which this improved translation would not have materialized. I thank Mr. Patrick Alexander, of the Penn State University Press, who was the one who informed me that the copyright to my original translation done for the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions had reverted to me upon the termination of that Institute, to which I had previously conveyed my rights.

I intend to publish in print form a further update of that original version at a future time. Since there have been a number of free-floating electronic forms of this text on the internet for some years now, I am happy that the sūtra in its current revision is now available in the 84000 Reading Room, among the many other translations on that site.

Sarva maṅgalam!


i.

Introduction

i.­1

Among Buddhist sūtras, The Teaching of Vimalakīrti stands out like a masterfully faceted diamond, so located between the heaps of gold, silver, and pearls of the Transcendent ‌Wisdom (Prajñā­pāramitā) Sūtras and the array of sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and other gems of the ‌Buddha Garland (Buddhāvataṃsaka), or Inconceivable Liberation (Acintyavimokṣa) Sūtras as to refract the radiances of all, beaming them forth to the beholder in a concentrated rainbow-beam of diamond light.


The Translation
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Teaching of Vimalakīrti

1.
Chapter 1

Purification of the Buddhafield

[F.175.a]


1.­1

Reverence to all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, noble disciples, and pratyekabuddhas, in the past, the present, and the future.


1.­2

Thus did I hear on a single occasion. The Lord Buddha was in residence in the garden of Āmrapālī, in the city of Vaiśālī, attended by a great gathering. Of bhikṣus there were eight thousand, all arhats. They were free from impurities and afflictions, and all had attained self-mastery. Their minds were entirely liberated by perfect knowledge. They were calm and dignified, like royal elephants. They had accomplished their work, done what they had to do, cast off their burdens, attained their goals, and totally destroyed the bonds of existence. Their true knowledge had made their minds entirely free. They all had attained the utmost perfection of every form of control over their minds.14


2.
Chapter 2

Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art

2.­1

At that time, there lived in the great city of Vaiśālī a certain Licchavi, Vimalakīrti by name. Having served the ancient buddhas, he had generated the roots of virtue by honoring them and making offerings to them. He had attained tolerance as well as eloquence. He played with the great superknowledges. He had attained the power of retention and the fearlessnesses. He had conquered all demons and opponents. He had penetrated the profound way of the Dharma. He was liberated through the transcendence of wisdom. Having integrated his realization with skill in liberative art, he was expert in knowing the thoughts and actions of living beings. Knowing the strength or weakness of their faculties, and being gifted with unrivaled eloquence, he taught the Dharma appropriately to each. Having applied himself energetically to the Mahāyāna, he understood it and accomplished his tasks with great finesse. He lived with the deportment of a buddha, and his superior intelligence was as wide as an ocean. He was praised, honored, and commended by all the buddhas and was respected by Śakra, Brahmā, and all the Lokapālas. In order to develop living beings with his skill in liberative art, he lived in the great city of Vaiśālī.


3.
Chapter 3

The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakīrti

3.­1

Then, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti thought to himself, “I am sick, lying on my bed in pain, yet the Tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly accomplished Buddha, does not consider me or take pity upon me, and sends no one to inquire after my illness.”

3.­2

The Lord knew this thought in the mind of Vimalakīrti and said to the venerable Śāriputra, “Śāriputra, go to inquire after the illness of the Licchavi Vimalakīrti.”


4.
Chapter 4

The Consolation of the Invalid

4.­1

Then, the Buddha said to the crown prince, Mañjuśrī, “Mañjuśrī, [F.198.a] go to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti to inquire about his illness.”

Mañjuśrī replied, “Lord, it is difficult to attend upon the Licchavi Vimalakīrti. He is gifted with marvelous eloquence concerning the law of the profound. He is extremely skilled in full expressions and in the reconciliation of dichotomies. His eloquence is inexorable, and no one can resist his imperturbable intellect. He accomplishes all the activities of the bodhisattvas. He penetrates all the secret mysteries of the bodhisattvas and the buddhas. He is skilled in civilizing all the abodes of devils. He plays with the great superknowledges. He is consummate in wisdom and liberative art. He has attained the supreme excellence of the indivisible, nondual sphere of the ultimate realm. He is skilled in teaching the Dharma with its infinite modalities within the uniform ultimate. He is skilled in granting means of attainment in accordance with the spiritual faculties of all living beings. He has thoroughly integrated his realization with skill in liberative art. He has attained decisiveness with regard to all questions. Thus, although he cannot be withstood by someone of my feeble defenses, still, sustained by the grace of the Buddha, I will go to him and will converse with him as well as I can.”


5.
Chapter 5

The Inconceivable Liberation

5.­1

Thereupon, the venerable Śāriputra had this thought: “There is not even a single chair in this house. Where are these disciples and bodhisattvas going to sit?”

The Licchavi Vimalakīrti read the thought of the venerable Śāriputra and said, “Reverend Śāriputra, did you come here for the sake of the Dharma? Or did you come here for the sake of a chair?”

5.­2

Śāriputra replied, “I came for the sake of the Dharma, not for the sake of a chair.”


6.
Chapter 6

The Goddess

6.­1

Thereupon, Mañjuśrī, the crown prince, addressed the Licchavi Vimalakīrti: “Good sir, how should a bodhisattva regard all living beings?”

Vimalakīrti replied, “Mañjuśrī, a bodhisattva should regard all living beings as a wise man regards the reflection of the moon in water or as magicians regard men created by magic. He should regard them as being like a face in a mirror; like the water of a mirage; like the sound of an echo; like a mass of clouds in the sky; [F.208.b] like the previous moment of a ball of foam; like the appearance and disappearance of a bubble of water; like the core of a plantain tree; like a flash of lightning; like the fifth great element; like the seventh sense-medium; like the appearance of matter in an immaterial realm; like a sprout from a rotten seed; like a tortoise-hair coat; like the fun of games for one who wishes to die; like the egoistic views of a stream-winner; like a third rebirth of a once-returner; like the descent of a nonreturner into a womb; like the existence of desire, hatred, and folly in an arhat; [F.209.a] like thoughts of avarice, immorality, wickedness, and hostility in a bodhisattva who has attained tolerance; like the instincts of afflictions in a tathāgata; like the perception of color in one blind from birth; like the inhalation and exhalation of an ascetic absorbed in the meditation of cessation; like the track of a bird in the sky; like the erection of a eunuch; like the pregnancy of a barren woman; like the unproduced afflictions of an emanated incarnation of the Tathāgata; like dream-visions seen after waking; like the afflictions of one who is free of conceptualizations; like fire burning without fuel; like the reincarnation of one who has attained ultimate liberation. [F.209.b]

“Precisely thus, Mañjuśrī, does a bodhisattva who realizes ultimate selflessness consider all beings.”146

6.­2

Mañjuśrī then asked further, “‌Noble sir, if a bodhisattva considers all living beings in such a way, how does he generate the great love toward them?”

Vimalakīrti replied, “Mañjuśrī, when a bodhisattva considers all living beings in this way, he thinks: ‘Just as I have realized the Dharma, so should I teach it to living beings.’147 Thereby, he generates the love that is truly a refuge for all living beings; the love that is peaceful because free of grasping; the love that is not feverish, because free of passions; the love that accords with reality because it is the very same in all three times; the love that is without conflict because free of the violence of the passions; the love that is nondual because it is involved neither with the external nor with the internal; the love that is imperturbable because totally ultimate.

6.­3

“Thereby he generates the love that is firm, its high resolve unbreakable, like a diamond; the love that is pure, purified in its intrinsic nature; the love that is even, its aspirations being equal; the arhat’s love that has eliminated its enemy;148 the bodhisattva’s love that continuously develops living beings; the Tathāgata’s love that understands reality; the Buddha’s love that causes living beings to awaken from their sleep; the love that is spontaneous because it is fully enlightened spontaneously;149 the love that is enlightenment because it is unity of experience; the love that has no presumption because it has eliminated attachment and aversion; the love that is great compassion because it infuses the Mahāyāna with radiance; the love that is never exhausted because it acknowledges voidness and selflessness; [F.210.a] the love that is giving because it bestows the gift of Dharma free of the tight fist of a bad teacher; the love that is morality because it improves immoral living beings; the love that is tolerance because it protects both self and others; the love that is effort because it takes responsibility for all living beings; the love that is contemplation because it refrains from indulgence in tastes; the love that is wisdom because it causes attainment at the proper time;150 the love that is liberative art because it shows the way everywhere; the love that is without formality because it is pure in motivation; the love that is without deviation because it acts from decisive motivation; the love that is high resolve because it is without passions; the love that is without deceit because it is not artificial; the love that is happiness because it introduces living beings to the happiness of the Buddha. Such, Mañjuśrī, is the great love of a bodhisattva.”

6.­4

Mañjuśrī: What is the great compassion of a bodhisattva?

Vimalakīrti: It is the giving of all accumulated roots of virtue to all living beings.

Mañjuśrī: What is the great joy of a bodhisattva?

Vimalakīrti: It is to be joyful and without regret in giving.

6.­5

Mañjuśrī: What is the equanimity of a bodhisattva?

Vimalakīrti: It is what benefits both self and others.151

Mañjuśrī: To what should one resort when terrified by fear of life?

Vimalakīrti: Mañjuśrī, a bodhisattva who is terrified by fear of life should resort to the magnanimity of the Buddha.

6.­6

Mañjuśrī: Where should he who wishes to resort to the magnanimity of the Buddha take his stand?

Vimalakīrti: He should stand in equanimity toward all living beings.152

Mañjuśrī: Where should he who wishes to stand in equanimity toward all living beings take his stand?

Vimalakīrti: He should live for the liberation of all living beings.

6.­7

Mañjuśrī: What should he who wishes to liberate all living beings do? [F.210.b]

Vimalakīrti: He should liberate them from their afflictions.

Mañjuśrī: How should he who wishes to eliminate afflictions apply himself?

Vimalakīrti: He should apply himself appropriately.

6.­8

Mañjuśrī: How should he apply himself, to “apply himself appropriately”?

Vimalakīrti: He should apply himself to productionlessness and to destructionlessness.

Mañjuśrī: What is not produced? And what is not destroyed?

Vimalakīrti: Evil is not produced and good is not destroyed.

6.­9

Mañjuśrī: What is the root of good and evil?

Vimalakīrti: Materiality is the root of good and evil.

Mañjuśrī: What is the root of materiality?

Vimalakīrti: Desire is the root of materiality.

6.­10

Mañjuśrī: What is the root of desire and attachment?

Vimalakīrti: Unreal construction is the root of desire.

Mañjuśrī: What is the root of unreal construction?

Vimalakīrti: The false concept is its root.

6.­11

Mañjuśrī: What is the root of the false concept?

Vimalakīrti: Baselessness.

Mañjuśrī: What is the root of baselessness?

Vimalakīrti: Mañjuśrī, when something is baseless, how can it have any root? Therefore, all things stand on the root that is baseless.153

6.­12

Thereupon, a certain goddess who lived in that house, having heard this teaching of the Dharma of the great heroic bodhisattvas, and being delighted, pleased, and overjoyed, manifested herself in a material body and showered the great spiritual heroes, the bodhisattvas, and the great disciples with heavenly flowers. When the flowers fell on the bodies of the bodhisattvas, they fell off on the floor, but when they fell on the bodies of the great disciples, they stuck to them and did not fall. [F.211.a] The great disciples shook the flowers and even tried to use their magical powers, but still the flowers would not shake off.

6.­13

Then, the goddess said to the venerable Śāriputra, “Reverend Śāriputra, why do you shake these flowers?”

Śāriputra replied, “Goddess, these flowers are not proper for religious persons154 and so we are trying to shake them off.”

6.­14

The goddess said, “Do not say that, reverend Śāriputra. Why? These flowers are proper indeed! Why? Such flowers have neither constructual thought nor discrimination. But the elder Śāriputra has both constructual thought and discrimination.

6.­15

“Reverend Śāriputra, impropriety for one who has renounced the world for the discipline of the rightly taught Dharma consists of constructual thought and discrimination, yet the elders are full of such thoughts. One who is without such thoughts is always proper.

6.­16

“Reverend Śāriputra, see how these flowers do not stick to the bodies of these great spiritual heroes, the bodhisattvas! This is because they have eliminated constructual thoughts and discriminations.

“In the same way that evil spirits have power over fearful men but cannot disturb the fearless, those intimidated by fear of the world are in the power of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures, which do not disturb those who are free from fear of the passions inherent in the constructive world. Thus, these flowers stick to the bodies of those who have not eliminated their instincts for the passions and do not stick to the bodies of those who have eliminated their instincts. Therefore, the flowers do not stick to the bodies of these bodhisattvas, who have abandoned all instincts.”155

6.­17

Then the venerable Śāriputra said to the goddess, “Goddess, how long have you been in this house?” [F.211.b]

The goddess replied, “I have been here as long as the elder has been in liberation.”

6.­18

Śāriputra said, “Then, have you been in this house for quite some time?”

The goddess said, “Has the elder been in liberation for quite some time?”

At that, the elder Śāriputra fell silent.

6.­19

The goddess continued, “Elder, you are ‘foremost of the wise!’ Why do you not speak? Now, when it is your turn, you do not answer the question.”

Śāriputra: Since liberation is inexpressible, goddess, I do not know what to say.

6.­20

Goddess: All the syllables pronounced by the elder have the nature of liberation. Why? Liberation is neither internal nor external, nor can it be apprehended apart from them.156 Likewise, syllables are neither internal nor external, nor can they be apprehended anywhere else. Therefore, reverend Śāriputra, do not point to liberation by abandoning speech!157 Why? The holy liberation is the equality of all things!

6.­21

Śāriputra: Goddess, is not liberation the freedom from desire, hatred, and folly?

Goddess: “Liberation is freedom from desire, hatred, and folly”‍—that is the teaching for the excessively proud.158 But those free of pride are taught that the very nature of desire, hatred, and folly is itself liberation.

6.­22

Śāriputra: Excellent! Excellent, goddess! Pray, what have you attained, what have you realized, that you have such eloquence?

Goddess: I have attained nothing, reverend Śāriputra. I have no realization. Therefore I have such eloquence. Whoever thinks, “I have attained! I have realized!” is overly proud in the discipline of the well taught Dharma.

6.­23

Śāriputra: Goddess, do you belong to the Disciple Vehicle, to the Solitary Sage Vehicle, or to the Great Vehicle?

Goddess: I belong to the Disciple Vehicle when I teach it to those who need it. [F.212.a] I belong to the Solitary Sage Vehicle when I teach the twelve links of dependent origination to those who need them. And, since I never abandon the great compassion, I belong to the Great Vehicle, as all need that teaching to attain ultimate liberation.159

6.­24

Nevertheless, reverend Śāriputra, just as one cannot smell the castor plant in a magnolia wood, but only the magnolia flowers, so, reverend Śāriputra, living in this house, which is redolent with the perfume of the virtues of the buddha qualities, one does not smell the perfume of the disciples and the solitary sages. Reverend Śāriputra, the Śakras, the Brahmās, the Lokapālas, the devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas who live in this house hear the Dharma from the mouth of this holy man and, enticed by the perfume of the virtues of the buddha qualities, proceed to conceive the spirit of enlightenment.

6.­25

Reverend Śāriputra, I have been in this house for twelve years, and I have heard no discourses concerning the disciples and solitary sages but have heard only those concerning the great love, the great compassion, and the inconceivable qualities of the Buddha.

6.­26

Reverend Śāriputra, eight strange and wonderful things manifest themselves constantly in this house. What are these eight?

A light of golden hue shines here constantly, so bright that it is hard to distinguish day and night, and neither the moon nor the sun shines here distinctly. That is the first wonder of this house.

6.­27

Furthermore, reverend Śāriputra, whoever enters this house is no longer troubled by his afflictions from the moment he is within. That is the second strange and wonderful thing.

Furthermore, reverend Śāriputra, this house is never forsaken by Śakra, Brahmā, the Lokapālas, and the bodhisattvas from all the other buddhafields. That is the third strange and wonderful thing. [F.212.b]

6.­28

Furthermore, reverend Śāriputra, this house is never empty of the sounds of the Dharma, the discourse on the six transcendences, and the discourses of the irreversible wheel of the Dharma. That is the fourth strange and wonderful thing.

Furthermore, reverend Śāriputra, in this house one always hears the rhythms, songs, and music of gods and men, and from this music constantly resounds the sound of the infinite Dharma of the Buddha. That is the fifth strange and wonderful thing.

6.­29

Furthermore, reverend Śāriputra, in this house there are always four inexhaustible treasures,160 replete with all kinds of jewels, which never decrease, although all the poor and wretched may partake of them to their satisfaction. That is the sixth strange and wonderful thing.

6.­30

Furthermore, reverend Śāriputra, at the wish of this good man, to this house come the innumerable tathāgatas of the ten directions, such as the Tathāgatas Śākyamuni, Amitābha, Akṣobhya, Ratnaśrī‌, Ratnārcis, Ratnacandra, Ratnavyūha, Duḥprasāha, Sarvārtha­siddha, Prabhūtaratna, Siṃhanādanādī,161 Siṃhaghoṣa, and so forth, and when they come they teach the door of Dharma called The Secrets of the Tathāgatas, and then depart.162 That is the seventh strange and wonderful thing.

6.­31

Furthermore, reverend Śāriputra, all the splendors of the abodes of the gods and all the splendors of the fields of the buddhas shine forth in this house. That is the eighth strange and wonderful thing.

Reverend Śāriputra, these eight strange and wonderful things are seen in this house. Who then, seeing such inconceivable things, would believe the teaching of the disciples?

6.­32

Śāriputra: Goddess, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?163

Goddess: Although I have sought my “female state” for these twelve years, [F.213.a] I have not yet found it. Reverend Śāriputra, if a magician were to incarnate a woman by magic, would you ask her, “What prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?”

6.­33

Śāriputra: No! Such a woman would not really exist, so what would there be to transform?

Goddess: Just so, reverend Śāriputra, all things do not really exist. Now, would you think, “What prevents one whose nature is that of a magical incarnation from transforming herself out of her female state?”

6.­34

Thereupon, the goddess employed her magical power to cause the elder Śāriputra to appear in her form and to cause herself to appear in his form. Then the goddess, transformed into Śāriputra, said to Śāriputra, transformed into a goddess, “Reverend Śāriputra, what prevents you from transforming yourself out of your female state?”

And Śāriputra, transformed into the goddess, replied, “I no longer appear in the form of a male! My body has changed into the body of a woman! I do not know what to transform!”

6.­35

The goddess continued, “If the elder could again change out of the female state, then all women could also change out of their female states. All women appear in the form of women in just the same way as the elder appears in the form of a woman. While they are not women in reality, they appear in the form of women. With this in mind, the Buddha said, ‘In all things, there is neither male nor female.’ ”

6.­36

Then, the goddess released her magical power and each returned to their ordinary form. She then said to him, “Reverend Śāriputra, what have you done with your female form?”

Śāriputra: I neither made it nor did I change it.

Goddess: Just so, all things are neither made nor changed, and that they are not made and not changed, that is the teaching of the Buddha.164 [F.213.b]

6.­37

Śāriputra: Goddess, where will you be born when you transmigrate after death?

Goddess: I will be born where all the magical incarnations of the Tathāgata are born.

6.­38

Śāriputra: But the emanated incarnations of the Tathāgata do not transmigrate nor are they born.

Goddess: All things and living beings are just the same; they do not transmigrate nor are they born!

6.­39

Śāriputra: Goddess, how soon will you attain the perfect enlightenment of buddhahood?

Goddess: At such time as you, elder, become endowed once more with the qualities of an ordinary individual, then will I attain the perfect enlightenment of buddhahood.

6.­40

Śāriputra: Goddess, it is impossible that I should become endowed once more with the qualities of an ordinary individual.

Goddess: Just so, reverend Śāriputra, it is impossible that I should attain the perfect enlightenment of buddhahood! Why? Because perfect enlightenment stands upon the impossible. Because it is impossible, no one attains the perfect enlightenment of buddhahood.

6.­41

Śāriputra: But the Tathāgata has declared: “The tathāgatas, who are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, have attained perfect buddhahood, are attaining perfect buddhahood, and will go on attaining perfect buddhahood.”

Goddess: Reverend Śāriputra, the expression “the buddhas of the past, present, and future” is a conventional expression made up of a certain number of syllables. The buddhas are neither past, nor present, nor future. Their enlightenment transcends the three times! But tell me, elder, have you attained the state of arhat?

6.­42

Śāriputra: It is attained, because there is no attainment.

Goddess: Just so, there is perfect enlightenment because there is no attainment of perfect enlightenment.

6.­43

Then the Licchavi Vimalakīrti said to the venerable elder Śāriputra, “Reverend Śāriputra, this goddess has already served ninety-two million billion buddhas. She plays with the superknowledges. [F.214.a] She has truly succeeded in all her vows. She has gained the tolerance of the birthlessness of things. She has actually attained irreversibility. She can live wherever she wishes on the strength of her vow to develop living beings.”


7.
Chapter 7

The Family of the Tathāgatas

7.­1

Then, the crown prince Mañjuśrī asked the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, “‌Noble sir, how does the bodhisattva follow the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha?”

Vimalakīrti replied, “Mañjuśrī, when the bodhisattva follows the wrong way, he follows the way to attain the qualities of the Buddha.”

7.­2

Mañjuśrī continued, “How does the bodhisattva follow the wrong way?”

Vimalakīrti replied, “Even should he enact the five deadly sins, he feels no malice, violence, or hate. Even should he go into the hells, he remains free of all taint of afflictions. Even should he go into the states of the animals, he remains free of darkness and ignorance. When he goes into the states of the asuras, he remains free of pride, conceit, and arrogance. When he goes into the realm of the lord of death, he accumulates the stores of merit and wisdom. When he goes into the states of motionlessness and immateriality, he does not dissolve therein.


8.
Chapter 8

The Dharma-Door of Nonduality

8.­1

Then, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti asked those bodhisattvas, “Good sirs, please explain how the bodhisattvas enter the Dharma-door of nonduality!”177

8.­2

The bodhisattva Dharmavikurvaṇa declared, “Noble sir, production and destruction are two, but what is not produced and does not occur cannot be destroyed. Thus the attainment of the tolerance of the birthlessness of things is the entrance into nonduality.”


9.
Chapter 9

The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation

9.­1

Thereupon, the venerable Śāriputra thought to himself, “If these great bodhisattvas do not adjourn before noontime, when are they going to eat?”185

The Licchavi Vimalakīrti, aware of what the venerable Śāriputra was thinking, spoke to him: “Reverend Śāriputra, the Tathāgata has taught the eight liberations. You should concentrate on those liberations, listening to the Dharma with a mind free of preoccupations with material things. Just wait a minute, reverend Śāriputra, and you will eat such food as you have never before tasted.”


10.
Chapter 10

Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible

10.­1

Meanwhile, the area in which the Lord was teaching the Dharma in the garden of Āmrapālī expanded and grew larger, and the entire assembly appeared tinged with a golden hue. Thereupon, the venerable Ānanda asked the Buddha, “Lord, this expansion and enlargement of the garden of Āmrapālī and this golden hue of the assembly‍—what do these auspicious signs portend?”

The Buddha declared, “Ānanda, these auspicious signs portend that the Licchavi Vimalakīrti and the crown prince Mañjuśrī, attended by a great multitude, are coming into the presence of the Tathāgata.”


11.
Chapter 11

Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathāgata Akṣobhya

11.­1

Thereupon, the Buddha said to the Licchavi Vimalakīrti, “Noble son, when you see the Tathāgata, how do you view him?”

Thus addressed, the Licchavi Vimalakīrti said to the Buddha, “Lord, when I see the Tathāgata, I view him by not seeing any Tathāgata. Why? I see him as not born from the past, not passing on to the future, and not abiding in the present time. Why? He is the essence that is the reality of matter,202 but he is not matter. He is the essence that is the reality of sensation, but he is not sensation. He is the essence that is the reality of intellect, but he is not intellect. He is the essence that is the reality of performance, yet he is not performance. He is the essence that is the reality of consciousness, yet he is not consciousness. Like the element of space, he does not abide in any of the four elements. Transcending the scope of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, he is not produced in the six sense-media. [F.231.b] He is not involved in the three worlds, is free of the three defilements, is associated with the triple liberation, is endowed with the three knowledges, and has truly attained the unattainable.


12.
Chapter 12

Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma

12.­1

Then Śakra, the king of the gods, said to the Buddha, “Lord, formerly I have heard from the Tathāgata and from Mañjuśrī, the crown prince of wisdom, many hundreds of thousands of teachings of the Dharma, but I have never before heard a teaching of the Dharma as remarkable as this instruction in the entrance into the method of inconceivable transformations.206 Lord, those living beings who, having heard this teaching of the Dharma, accept it, remember it, read it, and understand it deeply will be, without a doubt, true vessels of the Dharma; [F.235.a] there is no need to mention those who apply themselves to the yoga of meditation upon it. They will cut off all possibility of unhappy lives, will open their way to all fortunate lives, will always be looked after by all buddhas, will always overcome all adversaries, and will always conquer all devils. They will practice the path of the bodhisattvas, will take their places upon the seat of enlightenment, and will have truly entered the domain of the tathāgatas. Lord, the noble sons and daughters who will teach and practice this exposition of the Dharma will be honored and served by me and my followers. To the villages, towns, cities, states, kingdoms, and capitals wherein this teaching of the Dharma will be applied, taught, and demonstrated, I and my followers will come to hear the Dharma. I will inspire the unbelieving with faith, and I will guarantee my help and protection to those who believe and uphold the Dharma.”


c.

Colophon

c.­1

It has 1,800 ślokas in six fascicles, and was translated, edited, and established by Bandé Chönyi Tsultrim.


ab.

Abbreviations

Ch. Chinese
K Kumārajīva’s Ch. translation
X Xuanzang’s Ch. translation

n.

Notes

n.­1
Skt. acintyavimokṣa. See Chapter 12.
n.­2
See Lamotte (Appendice, Note III, pp 407-413).
n.­3
See Lamotte’s discussion of this concept (Lamotte, Introduction, pp 33-37), even though he emphasizes the rhetorical meaning more than the behavioral meaning.
n.­4
The Guhya­samāja­tantra (see bibliography) is generally recognized as one of the earliest systematic tantric texts. It expounds a philosophically pure Middle Way nondualism, combined with an explicit teaching of the reconciliation of dichotomies (i.e., how even evil can be transmuted to enlightenment, etc.) and an elaborate meditational methodology, employing sacred formulae (mantra), rituals, and visualizations. The meditation of jewels, buddhas, sacred universes (maṇḍala), etc., as existing in full detail inside a mustard seed on the tip of the yogin’s nose is a characteristic exercise in the Guhyasamāja, as in Chap. 3.
n.­5
See 2.­3. It is especially appropriate, in the light of the early tantric tradition, for Vimalakīrti, as a layman, to be an adept.
n.­6
See 7.­1-7.­15, where Vimalakīrti states that the “wrong way” leads to buddhahood, Mañjuśrī that all passions constitute the “tathāgata-family” (itself an important tantric concept), and Mahākaśyapa that only those guilty of the five deadly sins can conceive the spirit‌ of enlightenment‌. The Guhyasamāja (V.4) states: “Even those who have committed great sins, such as the five deadly sins, will succeed on the buddha-vehicle, there in the great ocean of the Mahāyāna” (ānantarya­prabhṛtayaḥ mahā­pāpakṛto ’pi ca | siddhyante buddhāydne ’smin mahā­yāna­mahodadhau ||). It then goes on to list in Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa fashion all sorts of terrible crimes of lust and hatred, ending with the phrase that such “a mentally nondualistic, intelligent person’s buddhahood is attained” (siddhyate tasya buddhatvaṃ nirvi­kalpasya dhīmataḥ ||).
n.­7
See 7.­17. In the tantric male-female symbolism of the Guhyasamāja and other tantras, the female consort is called the “Wisdom” (prajña) and the male the “Liberative Technique” (upāya), and the bell (ghaṅṭa) and diamond-scepter (vajra) also symbolize female and male, respectively.
n.­8
See 5.­17. This type of yogic power is classified as a lesser attainment (siddhi), the superior attainment being buddhahood, in all tantric methodologies.
n.­14
This list of qualities of the noble disciples (āryāśravāka) is absent in the Chinese of K and X. It is, however, frequently found in Mahāyāna sūtras (see Lamotte, p 98, n 2).
n.­146
This is the definition of the highest type of compassion: “non-objectifying great compassion” (anupalambha­mahā­karuṇā). Thus such compassion is pure sensitivity, with no cognitive grasp on any person or thing as the identifiable object of its powerful feeling (see glossary, “great compassion”).
n.­147
Mañjuśrī voices the pressing question about the great love and compassion of the bodhisattva: seeing living beings as nonexistent, how can he feel love and compassion for them? As Vimalakīrti indicates, the bodhisattva’s love is not merely commiseration but a spontaneous overflow of his great joy and relief in realizing the radiant nature of reality. Although he grasps no living being, he, being empty of himself, is utterly sensitive to the oppressive gravity of the “living being” feeling of others, and his love is an outpouring of his awareness of their true nature.
n.­148
The folk etymology of arhat is arīnāṃ hantṛ‍—“killer of enemies” (passions and ignorance).
n.­149
K: “…because it is causeless.”
n.­150
K and X: “…because it is always opportune.”
n.­151
K and X: “It is the rendering of blessings without expectation of return.”
n.­152
That is, the protection of the Buddha is found, not in mere dependence on him, but in self-reliant cultivation of one’s own positive mind.
n.­153
This famous dialogue is quoted in the Śikṣā­samuccaya, pp 80, 81. Śāntideva introduces the quote by the following remark: “If the superficial reality is baseless, how can it be either valid or invalid? (Its validity is comparable to) the illusion of a man (which can arise) even without a post being there (to be misperceived). And furthermore, where is the advocate of voidness who admits the ultimate existence of a post that would serve as basis of the false perception of a man? Thus, all things are rootless, their root not being established in reality.”
n.­154
Monks are not allowed to wear garlands or perfumes, etc.
n.­155
Since the bodhisattvas have purged their sub­conscious­nesses of the instinctual roots of emotional habit-patterns, they do not fear the surface manifestations of passions inevitable in worldly life because these cannot affect them deeply.
n.­156
K: “Liberation is neither within nor without, nor in between.”
n.­157
Here Śāriputra’s silence fails where Vimalakīrti’s famous silence on the subject of nonduality succeeds (see n.­184). Thus silence per se is not necessarily reflective of highest wisdom.
n.­158
The Individual Vehicle followers, from the bodhisattva point of view.
n.­159
For numerous references concerning the Mahāyāna doctrine of the “unique vehicle” (ekayāna), most explicitly stated in the Lotus Sūtra, see Lamotte, p 275, n 32.
n.­160
According to Lamotte (p 278, n 34), this refers to four famous treasures, each guarded by a great nāga-king; by Pińgala at Kaliṅga, Pāṇḍuka at Mithila, Elapātra at Gandhāra, and Śankho at Kāśi (Benares).
n.­161
Skt. has siṃha­nādanādī; Tib. has seng ge bsgrags pa, which would suggest “Siṃhakīrti.”
n.­162
Lamotte (p 220, n 3; p 280, n 36) follows K and his commentators in identifying this “Dharma-door” with the sūtra called Tathāgātācintya­guhya­nirdeśa (Toh 47). However, it does not seem quite certain that so many tathāgatas would be required to expound the same text. Rather, it seems that this assembly of tathāgatas refers to the formation of a cosmic maṇḍala, such as is formed in the first chapter of Guhya­samāja­tantra, and the “secrets of the tathāgatas” would then be the general name for any sort of tantric teaching. This would bear out the description of Vimalakīrti as understanding “the mundane and transcendental sciences and esoteric practices” (p 21) and (by Mañjuśrī) as penetrating “all the esoteric mysteries of the bodhisattvas and the buddhas” (p 42). This evidence can have been overlooked by scholars of great erudition only because of their firm conviction that tantrism did not exist in India at the time of Vimalakīrti, or even of that sūtra. Scholars native to the Buddhist tradition would disagree.
n.­163
Śāriputra evidences his belief that enlightenment can be obtained only by men, and that women must first reincarnate in male form to reach the highest goal. Thus he cannot understand why the goddess would not use her power to become a man.
n.­164
This whole incident is quite similar to an exchange that takes place between Śāriputra and the daughter of Sāgara, the nāga-king, in the Lotus Sūtra (pp 250-254). For an interesting discussion of the prejudice against females in Buddhism in general and of the Mādhyamika negation of this prejudice as executed, for example, by the goddess, see Lamotte, p 280, n 37.
n.­177
“Nonduality” (advayatva) = “Middle Path” (madhyama­pratipat) = freedom from extremes of being and nothingness (antadvaya­vivarjita). For numerous references, see Lamotte, pp 301-302, n 1.
n.­185
Those of the bodhisattvas who are monks, or who maintain ascetic practices, are allowed to eat only before noon; otherwise they must wait until dawn of the next day.
n.­202
Tib. gzugs kyi de bzhin nyid kyi rang bzhin, Skt. rūpa­tathatā­svabhāva, i.e., voidness, as “essence which is reality” is a euphemism for “essencelessness” (niḥsvabhāvatā). Thus the Tathāgata is the voidness of matter, i.e., matter in the ultimate sense, not mere relative matter‍—and so on for the remaining four aggregates. For interesting references on the ultimate nonexistence of the Tathāgata, see Lamotte, p 355, n 1. The reference given there is worth repeating here (from Prasanna­padā, p 435, quoting a Vaipulya­sūtra): “Those who see me by means of form, or who follow me by means of sound‍—they are involved with false and ruinous views and will never see me at all. The buddhas are to be seen by means of ultimate reality, since those leaders are Dharma-bodies, and ultimate reality is impossible to know, as it is not an object of discernment.”
n.­206
Skt. acintya­vikurvaṇa­naya­praveśa­nirdeśa. This is a description, not a title of the sūtra, as it is not mentioned at the end of this chapter, where the Buddha gives the titles to Ānanda.

b.

Bibliography

Tibetan and Sanskrit sources

’phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra). Toh. 176, Degé Kangyur, vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175b–239a.

’phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Ārya­vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra). [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. 476–635.

Study Group on Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. 梵文維摩經 : ポタラ宮所蔵写本に基づく校訂. Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, A Sanskrit Edition Based upon the Manuscript Newly Found at the Potala Palace. Tokyo: Institute for Comprehensive Studies of Buddhism, Taishō Daigaku Shuppankai, 2006.

Translations of this text

Lamotte, Étienne. L’Enseignement de Vimalakīrti (Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa). Louvain: Université de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste, 1962. [Translated from Tib. and Xuanzang’s Chinese].

Luk, Charles (tr.). The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra. Berkeley and London: Shambhala, 1972. [Translated from Kumārajīva’s Chinese].

McRae, John R. (tr.). The Vimalakīrti Sūtra. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2004. [Translated from Kumārajīva’s Chinese].

Canonical references

Saṃdhi­nirmocana­sūtra. Sanskrit text: see Lamotte 1935. Tibetan text: ’phags pa dgongs pa nges par ’grel pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Toh 106, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, tsha), folios 1b–55b. English translation: see Buddhavacana Translation Group.https://read.84000.co/translation/toh106.html

Saddharma­puṇḍarīka. Sanskrit text: see Vaidya 1960, Wogihara et al. 1934-1935. Tibetan text: dpal dam chos pad ma dkar po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, Toh 113, Degé Kangyur, vol. 51 (mdo sed, ja), folios 1b–180b. English translations: see Kern 1884; Roberts, 2018.

Guhya­samāja­tantra. Sanskrit text: see Bagchi 1965. Tibetan text: de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi sku gsung thugs kyi gsang chen gsang ba ’dus pa zhes bya ba brtag pa’i rgyal po chen po, Toh 442, Degé Kangyur vol. 81 (rgyud ’bum, ca), folios 89b–148a.

yul ’khor skyong gis zhus pa (Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā). Toh 62, Degé Kangyur vol. 42 (dkon brtsegs, nga), folios 227.a–257.a. English translation in Vienna Buddhist Translation Studies Group (2021).

Candrakīrti. Prasannapadā­nāma­mūla­madhyamaka­vṛtti. Sanskrit text: see La Vallée Poussin 1903-1912. Tibetan text: dbu ma rtsa ba’i ’grel pa tshig gsal ba, Toh 3860, Degé Tengyur vol. 102 (dbu ma, ’a), folios 1b–200a.

Nāgārjuna. Prajña­nāma­mūla­mādhyamaka­kārikā. Sanskrit text and translation: see Inada 1970. Tibetan text: dbu ma rtsa ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa shes rab, Toh 3824, Degé Tengyur vol. 96 (dbu ma, tsa), folios 1b–19a.

Śāntideva. Śikṣāsamuccaya. Sanskrit text: see Vaidya, 1961. Tibetan text: bslab pa kun las btus pa, Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3a–194b. English translation: see Goodman 2016.

Editions and translations of works referenced

Bagchi, S. (ed.). Guhya­samāja­tantra. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, No. 9. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1965.

Buddhavacana Translation Group. The Sūtra Unravelling the Intent (Saṃdhi­nirmocana­sūtra, Toh 106). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.https://read.84000.co/translation/toh106.html

Dayal, Har. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. 1932. Reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970.

Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva: A Translation of the Śikṣā-samuccaya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Inada, K. Nāgārjuna. Buffalo, N.Y., 1970.

Kern, H. (ed.). Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka, or Lotus of the True Law. Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXI. Oxford: Clarendon, 1884.

Lamotte, Étienne (tr.). Saṃdhi­nirmocana­sūtra: L’Explication des mystères. [Tib. text and French translation]. Louvain: Université de Louvain; and Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve, 1935.

La Vallée Poussin, L. de (ed.). Mūla­madhyamaka­kārikās (Mādhyamika­sūtras) de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasanna­padā, commentaire de Candrakīrti . Bibliotheca Buddhica IV. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des sciences, 1903-1913.

Roberts, Peter (tr.). The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Saddharma­puṇḍarīka­sūtra, Toh 113). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018 (read.84000.co).

Sakaki (ed.). Mahāvyutpatti, Skt.-Tib. lexicon. Kyoto, 1916-1925.

Vaidya, P. L. (ed.) Saddharma­puṇḍarīka­sūtra. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1960.

‍—‍—‍—(ed.). Śikṣāsamuccaya of Śāntideva. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, No. 11. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1961.

Vienna Buddhist Translation Studies Group, trans. The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchāsūtra, Toh 62). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

Wogihara, Unrai and Tsuchida, Chikao. Saddharma­puṇḍarīka-sūtram: Romanized and Revised Text of the Bibliotheca Buddhica publication by consulting a Sanskrit Ms. & Tibetan and Chinese translations. Tōkyō: Seigo-Kenkyūkai, 1934–1935.


g.

Glossary

g.­1

Abhidharma

  • chos mngon pa
  • ཆོས་མངོན་པ།
  • Abhidharma

Conventionally, the general name for the Buddhist teachings presented in a scientific manner, as a fully elaborated transcendental psychology. As one of the branches of the Canon, it corresponds to the discipline of wisdom (the Sūtras corresponding to meditation, and the Vinaya to morality). Ultimately the Abhidharma is “pure wisdom, with its coordinate mental functions” (Prajñāmalā sānucārā), according to Vasubandhu.

7 passages contain this term:

  • n.­74
  • n.­190
  • g.­7
  • g.­137
  • g.­158
  • g.­215
  • g.­338

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­2

Abhi­dharma­kośa

  • chos mngon pa’i mdzod
  • ཆོས་མངོན་པའི་མཛོད།
  • Abhi­dharma­kośa

An important work written by Vasubandhu, probably in the fourth century, as a critical compendium of the Abhidharmic science.

4 passages contain this term:

  • n.­175
  • g.­192
  • g.­285
  • g.­338
g.­3

Abhirati

  • mngon par dga’ ba
  • མངོན་པར་དགའ་བ།
  • Abhirati

Lit. “Intense Delight.” The universe, or buddhafield of the Tathāgata Akṣobhya, lying in the east beyond innumerable galaxies, whence Vimalakīrti came to reincarnate in our Sahā universe.

10 passages contain this term:

  • i.­8
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­17
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­19
  • 11.­20
  • g.­12

Links to further resources:

  • 17 related glossary entries
g.­6

Affliction

  • nyon mongs
  • ཉོན་མོངས།
  • kleśa

Desire, hatred and anger, dullness, pride, and jealousy, as well as all their derivatives, said to number 84,000. Also translated “passions.”

23 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­2
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­34
  • 3.­53
  • 3.­59
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­78
  • 3.­79
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­29
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­7
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­28
  • 9.­24
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­12
  • n.­68
  • g.­197
  • g.­213
  • g.­319

Links to further resources:

  • 60 related glossary entries
g.­7

Aggregate

  • phung po
  • ཕུང་པོ།
  • skandha

This translation of skandha is fairly well established, although some prefer the monosyllabic “group.” It is important to bear in mind that the original skandha has the sense of “pile,” or “heap,” which has the connotation of utter lack of internal structure, of a randomly collocated pile of things; thus “group” may convey a false connotation of structure and ordered arrangement. The five “compulsive” (upādāna) aggregates are of great importance as a schema for introspective meditation in the Abhidharma, wherein each is defined with the greatest subtlety and precision. In fact, the five terms rūpa, vedanā, samjñā, saṃskāra, and vijñāna have such a particular technical sense that many translators have preferred to leave them untranslated. Nevertheless, in the sūtra context, where the five are meant rather more simply to represent the relative living being (in the realm of desire), it seems preferable to give a translation‍—in spite of the drawbacks of each possible term‍—in order to convey the same sense of a total categorization of the psychophysical complex. Thus, for rūpa, “matter” is preferred to “form” because it more concretely connotes the physical and gross; for vedanā, “sensation” is adopted, as limited to the aesthetic; for samjñā, “intellect” is useful in conveying the sense of verbal, conceptual intelligence. For samskāra, which covers a number of mental functions as well as inanimate forces, “motivation” gives a general idea. And “consciousness” is so well established for vijñāna (although what we normally think of as consciousness is more like samjñā, i.e., conceptual and notional, and vijñāna is rather the “pure awareness” prior to concepts) as to be left unchallenged.

18 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­69
  • 4.­15
  • 5.­2
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­24
  • 10.­20
  • n.­52
  • n.­102
  • n.­202
  • g.­55
  • g.­74
  • g.­80
  • g.­128
  • g.­179
  • g.­188
  • g.­283

Links to further resources:

  • 57 related glossary entries
g.­12

Akṣobhya

  • mi ’khrugs pa
  • མི་འཁྲུགས་པ།
  • Akṣobhya

Buddha of the universe Abhirati, presiding over the eastern direction; also prominent in tantric works as one of the five dhyāni buddhas, or tathāgatas (see Lamotte, pp. 360-362, n. 9).

13 passages contain this term:

  • i.­8
  • i.­14
  • 6.­30
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­19
  • 11.­20
  • n.­9
  • n.­10
  • g.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 35 related glossary entries
g.­13

Amitābha

  • snang ba mtha’ yas
  • སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས།
  • Amitābha

The Buddha of boundless light; one of the five Tathāgatas in Tantrism; a visitor in Vimalakīrti’s house, according to the goddess’s report.

3 passages contain this term:

  • i.­14
  • 6.­30
  • n.­9

Links to further resources:

  • 37 related glossary entries
g.­14

Āmrapālī

  • a mra srung ba
  • ཨ་མྲ་སྲུང་བ།
  • Āmrapālī

A courtesan of Vaiśālī who gave her garden to the Buddha and his retinue, where they stay during the events of the sūtra.

5 passages contain this term:

  • i.­3
  • i.­7
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­13
  • 10.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­15

Ānanda

  • kun dga’ bo
  • ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།
  • Ānanda

A major śrāvaka disciple of the Buddha; his personal attendant. See also n.­88 and n.­193.

25 passages contain this term:

  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­42
  • 3.­43
  • 3.­44
  • 3.­45
  • 3.­46
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­10
  • 10.­11
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­17
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­29
  • n.­88
  • n.­193
  • n.­206

Links to further resources:

  • 78 related glossary entries
g.­20

Arhat

  • dgra bcom pa
  • དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
  • arhat

According to Buddhist tradition, one who has conquered his enemy passions (kleśa-ari-hata) and reached the supreme purity. The term can refer to buddhas as well as to those who have reached realization of the Disciple Vehicle.

18 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­2
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­24
  • 4.­29
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­41
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­10
  • n.­59
  • n.­72
  • n.­144
  • n.­148
  • n.­199
  • g.­85
  • g.­88
  • g.­313
  • g.­333

Links to further resources:

  • 96 related glossary entries
g.­24

Asura

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

Titan .

10 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­14
  • 6.­24
  • 7.­2
  • 11.­14
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­29

Links to further resources:

  • 106 related glossary entries
g.­32

Bhikṣu

  • dge slong
  • དགེ་སློང་།
  • bhikṣu

Lit. “beggar.” Buddhist mendicant monk; bhikṣuṇī is the female counterpart.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­56
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­49

Links to further resources:

  • 44 related glossary entries
g.­35

Bodhisattva

  • byang chub sems dpa’
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།
  • bodhisattva

A living being who has produced the spirit of enlightenment in himself and whose constant dedication, lifetime after lifetime, is to attain the unexcelled, perfect enlightenment of Buddhahood.

250 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­3
  • i.­4
  • i.­5
  • i.­6
  • i.­7
  • i.­9
  • i.­13
  • i.­14
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­36
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­39
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­42
  • 1.­43
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­46
  • 3.­14
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­43
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­61
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­71
  • 3.­72
  • 3.­80
  • 3.­83
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­7
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­14
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­20
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­26
  • 4.­27
  • 4.­28
  • 4.­29
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­9
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­14
  • 5.­15
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­18
  • 5.­19
  • 5.­20
  • 5.­21
  • 5.­22
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­4
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­16
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­32
  • 7.­43
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­6
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­8
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­13
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­19
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­25
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­11
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­13
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­16
  • 9.­17
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­21
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­26
  • 9.­27
  • 9.­28
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­11
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 10.­23
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­8
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­16
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­7
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­20
  • 12.­21
  • 12.­22
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­25
  • 12.­29
  • n.­16
  • n.­18
  • n.­19
  • n.­20
  • n.­35
  • n.­36
  • n.­37
  • n.­40
  • n.­55
  • n.­56
  • n.­73
  • n.­93
  • n.­99
  • n.­100
  • n.­111
  • n.­120
  • n.­125
  • n.­127
  • n.­128
  • n.­130
  • n.­144
  • n.­145
  • n.­147
  • n.­155
  • n.­158
  • n.­162
  • n.­168
  • n.­181
  • n.­185
  • n.­190
  • n.­195
  • n.­196
  • n.­198
  • g.­11
  • g.­26
  • g.­47
  • g.­59
  • g.­60
  • g.­63
  • g.­68
  • g.­69
  • g.­77
  • g.­81
  • g.­84
  • g.­86
  • g.­98
  • g.­106
  • g.­109
  • g.­110
  • g.­113
  • g.­118
  • g.­123
  • g.­131
  • g.­148
  • g.­163
  • g.­167
  • g.­171
  • g.­172
  • g.­181
  • g.­205
  • g.­214
  • g.­217
  • g.­245
  • g.­246
  • g.­248
  • g.­277
  • g.­278
  • g.­297
  • g.­302
  • g.­313
  • g.­319
  • g.­333
  • g.­337

Links to further resources:

  • 33 related glossary entries
g.­37

Brahmā

  • tshangs pa
  • ཚངས་པ།
  • Brahmā

Creator-lord of a universe, there being as many as there are universes, whose number is incalculable. Hence, in Buddhist belief, a title of a deity who has attained supremacy in a particular universe, rather than a personal name. For example, the Brahmā of the Aśoka universe is personally called Śikhin, to distinguish him from other Brahmās. A Brahmā resides at the summit of the realm of pure matter (rūpadhātu), and is thus higher in status than a Śakra.

26 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­50
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­29
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­18
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­39
  • 9.­21
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­14
  • 12.­3
  • g.­23
  • g.­260
  • g.­285
  • g.­288
  • g.­305

Links to further resources:

  • 125 related glossary entries
g.­39

Buddha

  • sangs rgyas
  • སངས་རྒྱས།
  • buddha

Lit. “awakened one.” Title of one who has attained the highest attainment possible for a living being. “The Buddha” often designates Śākyamuni because he is the buddha mainly in charge of the buddhafield of our Sahā universe.

272 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­3
  • i.­4
  • i.­5
  • i.­6
  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • i.­15
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­24
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­29
  • 1.­30
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­50
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­53
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­3
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­16
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­30
  • 3.­31
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­38
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­46
  • 3.­47
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­49
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­60
  • 3.­61
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­74
  • 3.­78
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­18
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­25
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­31
  • 6.­35
  • 6.­36
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­43
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­11
  • 7.­13
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­15
  • 7.­29
  • 7.­30
  • 7.­48
  • 7.­57
  • 8.­23
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­13
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­15
  • 9.­16
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­25
  • 9.­26
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­19
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­17
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­25
  • 12.­26
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­28
  • 12.­29
  • n.­4
  • n.­6
  • n.­25
  • n.­26
  • n.­30
  • n.­32
  • n.­33
  • n.­34
  • n.­35
  • n.­36
  • n.­40
  • n.­52
  • n.­55
  • n.­57
  • n.­61
  • n.­62
  • n.­70
  • n.­74
  • n.­80
  • n.­83
  • n.­88
  • n.­93
  • n.­101
  • n.­103
  • n.­106
  • n.­110
  • n.­128
  • n.­133
  • n.­152
  • n.­162
  • n.­188
  • n.­192
  • n.­193
  • n.­195
  • n.­199
  • n.­202
  • n.­206
  • n.­208
  • n.­212
  • g.­9
  • g.­10
  • g.­12
  • g.­13
  • g.­14
  • g.­15
  • g.­16
  • g.­19
  • g.­20
  • g.­30
  • g.­40
  • g.­41
  • g.­45
  • g.­52
  • g.­60
  • g.­66
  • g.­68
  • g.­71
  • g.­73
  • g.­77
  • g.­81
  • g.­84
  • g.­85
  • g.­86
  • g.­105
  • g.­106
  • g.­109
  • g.­110
  • g.­125
  • g.­137
  • g.­141
  • g.­148
  • g.­152
  • g.­155
  • g.­157
  • g.­158
  • g.­164
  • g.­167
  • g.­171
  • g.­172
  • g.­175
  • g.­185
  • g.­186
  • g.­191
  • g.­207
  • g.­211
  • g.­212
  • g.­218
  • g.­220
  • g.­225
  • g.­232
  • g.­234
  • g.­235
  • g.­236
  • g.­238
  • g.­244
  • g.­245
  • g.­248
  • g.­256
  • g.­261
  • g.­262
  • g.­271
  • g.­272
  • g.­274
  • g.­275
  • g.­276
  • g.­280
  • g.­288
  • g.­290
  • g.­292
  • g.­293
  • g.­294
  • g.­296
  • g.­298
  • g.­300
  • g.­302
  • g.­306
  • g.­307
  • g.­308
  • g.­313
  • g.­314
  • g.­318
  • g.­319
  • g.­330
  • g.­333
  • g.­336
  • g.­340

Links to further resources:

  • 10 related glossary entries
g.­41

Buddhafield

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

Roughly, a synonym for “universe,” although Buddhist cosmology contains many universes of different types and dimensions. “Buddhafield” indicates, in regard to whatever type of world-sphere, that it is the field of influence of a particular Buddha. For a detailed discussion of these concepts, see Lamotte, Appendice, Note I.

82 passages contain this term:

  • i.­3
  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­36
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­39
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­42
  • 1.­43
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­45
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­50
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­53
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­55
  • 1.­56
  • 3.­28
  • 3.­43
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­79
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­23
  • 4.­24
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­6
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­17
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­31
  • 7.­44
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­11
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­13
  • 9.­15
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­26
  • 9.­27
  • 9.­28
  • 10.­4
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­14
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­25
  • n.­35
  • n.­36
  • n.­39
  • n.­113
  • n.­114
  • n.­115
  • n.­174
  • g.­3
  • g.­39
  • g.­185
  • g.­258
  • g.­278
  • g.­340

Links to further resources:

  • 25 related glossary entries
g.­43

Buddhāvataṃsaka

  • sangs rgyas phal po che
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཕལ་པོ་ཆེ།
  • Buddhāvataṃsaka

See Avataṃsaka.

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­1
  • g.­27

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­48

Cessation

  • ’gog pa
  • འགོག་པ།
  • nirodha

The third Noble Truth, equivalent to nirvāṇa.

11 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­2
  • 3.­50
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­27
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­29
  • 11.­3
  • n.­98
  • g.­75

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­53

Conceptualization

  • rnam par rtog pa
  • རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ།
  • vikalpa

This brings up another important group of words that has never been treated systematically in translation: vikalpa, parikalpa, samāropa, adhyāropa, kalpanā, samjñā, and prapāñca. All of these refer to mental functions that tend to superimpose upon reality, either relative or ultimate, a conceptualized reality fabricated by the subjective mind. Some translators have tended to lump these together under the rubric “discursive thought,” which leads to the misleading notion that all thought is bad, something to be eliminated, and that sheer “thoughtlessness” is “enlightenment,” or whatever higher state is desired. According to Buddhist scholars, thought in itself is simply a function, and only thought that is attached to its own content over and above the relative object, i.e., “egoistic” thought, is bad and to be eliminated. Therefore we have chosen a set of words for the seven Skt. terms: respectively, “conceptualization,” “imagination,” “presumption,” “exaggeration,” “construction,” “conception” or “notion,” and “fabrication.” This does not mean that these words are not somewhat interchangeable or that another English word might not be better in certain contexts; it only represents an attempt to achieve consistency with the original usages.

5 passages contain this term:

  • i.­11
  • 3.­34
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­24
  • g.­183

Links to further resources:

  • 14 related glossary entries
g.­55

Consciousness

  • rnam shes
  • རྣམ་ཤེས།
  • vijñāna

See “aggregate.”

23 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­7
  • 3.­8
  • 3.­12
  • 4.­14
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­4
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­22
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­2
  • 12.­13
  • n.­98
  • g.­7
  • g.­22
  • g.­52
  • g.­74
  • g.­75
  • g.­80
  • g.­98
  • g.­285
  • g.­304
  • g.­318
  • g.­343

Links to further resources:

  • 21 related glossary entries
g.­56

Contemplation

  • bsam gtan
  • བསམ་གཏན།
  • dhyāna

See “absorption.”

12 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­2
  • 3.­3
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­30
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­26
  • g.­5
  • g.­184
  • g.­285
  • g.­313
  • g.­319

Links to further resources:

  • 49 related glossary entries
g.­58

Decisiveness

  • nges par sems pa
  • ངེས་པར་སེམས་པ།
  • nidhyapti

Analytic concentration that gains insight into the nature of reality, synonymous with “transcendental analysis,” vipaśyana (q.v.).

2 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­58
  • 4.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 2 related glossary entries
g.­61

Dependent origination

  • rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba
  • རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ།
  • pratītya­samutpāda

See also “relativity.”

5 passages contain this term:

  • 6.­23
  • 12.­13
  • n.­98
  • g.­255
  • g.­284

Links to further resources:

  • 29 related glossary entries
g.­64

Deva

  • lha
  • ལྷ།
  • deva

General term for all sorts of gods and deities.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 6.­24
  • 11.­14
  • 12.­19

Links to further resources:

  • 61 related glossary entries
g.­66

Dharma

  • chos
  • ཆོས།
  • Dharma

The second of the Three Jewels, that is, the teaching of the Buddha.

134 passages contain this term:

  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­6
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­21
  • 1.­22
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­12
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­5
  • 3.­6
  • 3.­7
  • 3.­9
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­16
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­45
  • 3.­57
  • 3.­61
  • 3.­68
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­70
  • 3.­74
  • 3.­75
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­77
  • 3.­78
  • 3.­79
  • 3.­80
  • 3.­82
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­19
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­4
  • 5.­5
  • 5.­18
  • 5.­20
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­15
  • 6.­22
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­30
  • 7.­18
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­25
  • 7.­41
  • 7.­45
  • 7.­55
  • 8.­23
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­25
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­21
  • 11.­22
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­8
  • 12.­9
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­13
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­15
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­18
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­20
  • 12.­21
  • 12.­22
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­26
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­28
  • n.­30
  • n.­52
  • n.­59
  • n.­72
  • n.­85
  • n.­99
  • n.­106
  • n.­136
  • n.­138
  • n.­190
  • n.­197
  • n.­202
  • g.­30
  • g.­67
  • g.­77
  • g.­125
  • g.­130
  • g.­151
  • g.­164
  • g.­181
  • g.­275
  • g.­294
  • g.­319
  • g.­333
  • g.­337

Links to further resources:

  • 34 related glossary entries
g.­67

Dharma-door

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

Certain teachings are called “Dharma-doors” (or “doors of the Dharma”), as they provide access to the practice of the Dharma.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 8.­1
  • 10.­13
  • n.­162
  • g.­72

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­73

Duḥprasāha

  • bzod dka’
  • བཟོད་དཀའ།
  • Duḥprasāha

Buddha of the universe Marīci, located sixty-one universes away; mentioned also in other Mahāyāna sūtras, with the interesting coincidence that his teaching ceased at the moment Śākyamuni began teaching at Benares.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­30
g.­74

Egoistic views

  • ’jig tshogs la lta ba
  • འཇིག་ཚོགས་ལ་ལྟ་བ།
  • satkāyadṛṣṭi

This consists of twenty varieties of false notion, consisting basically of regarding the temporally impermanent and ultimately insubstantial as “I” or “mine.” The five compulsive aggregates are paired with the self, giving the twenty false notions. For example, the first four false notions are that (1) matter is the self, which is like its owner (rūpaṃ ātmā svāmivat); (2) the self possesses matter, like its ornament (rūpavañ ātmā alaņkāravat); (3) matter belongs to the self, like a slave (ātmīyaṃ rūpaṃ bhṛtyavat); and (4) the self dwells in matter as in a vessel (rūpe ātmā bhajanavat). The other four compulsive aggregates are paired with the self in the same four ways, giving sixteen more false notions concerning sensation, intellect, motivation, and consciousness, hypostatizing an impossible relationship with a nonexistent, permanent, substantial self.

6 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­15
  • 6.­1
  • 7.­11
  • 8.­24
  • n.­102
  • g.­178

Links to further resources:

  • 16 related glossary entries
g.­75

Eight liberations

  • rnam par thar pa brgyad
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བརྒྱད།
  • vimokṣa

The first consists of the seeing of form by one who has form; the second consists of the seeing of external form by one with the concept of internal formlessness; the third consists of the physical realization of pleasant liberation and its successful consolidation; the fourth consists of the full entrance to the infinity of space through transcending all conceptions of matter, and the subsequent decline of conceptions of resistance and discredit of conceptions of diversity; the fifth consists of full entrance into the infinity of consciousness, having transcended the infinity of space; the sixth consists of the full entrance into the sphere of nothingness, having transcended the sphere of the infinity of conscious­ness; the seventh consists of the full entrance into the sphere of neither conscious­ness nor un­conscious­ness, having transcended the sphere of nothingness; the eighth consists of the perfect cessation of suffering, having transcended the sphere of neither conscious­ness nor un­conscious­ness. Thus the first three liberations form specific links to the ordinary perceptual world; the fourth to seventh are equivalent to the four absorptions; and the eighth represents the highest attainment.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­13
  • 7.­22
  • 9.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 16 related glossary entries
g.­80

Element

  • khams
  • ’byung ba chen po
  • ཁམས།
  • འབྱུང་བ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • dhātu
  • mahābhūta

Depending on the context, may translate either: (a) Skt. mahābhūta, Tib. ’byung ba chen po, the four “main” or “great” outer elements of earth, water, fire, air, and (when there is a fifth) space; or: (b) Skt. dhātu, Tib. khams, the “eighteen elements” introduce, in the context of the aggregates, elements, and sense-media, the same six pairs as the twelve sense-media, as elements of experience, adding a third member to each set: the element of consciousness (vijñāna), or sense. Hence the first pair gives the triad eye-element (caksur­dhātu), form-element (rūpadhātu), and eye-consciousness-element, or eye-sense-element (caksur­vijñāna­dhātu)‍—and so on with the other five, noting the last, mind-element (manodhātu), phenomena-element (dharma­dhātu), and mental-sense-element (mano­vijñāna­dhātu).

21 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­7
  • 2.­9
  • 3.­69
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­15
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­1
  • n.­49
  • n.­50
  • n.­59
  • n.­102
  • n.­118
  • n.­167
  • n.­182
  • g.­193
  • g.­293
  • g.­333

Links to further resources:

  • 56 related glossary entries
g.­81

Emanated incarnation

  • sprul pa
  • སྤྲུལ་པ།
  • nirmāṇa

This refers to the miraculous power of the Buddha and bodhisattvas of a certain stage to emanate apparently living beings in order to develop and teach living beings. This power reaches its culmination in the nirmāṇa­kayā, the “incarnation body,” which is one of the three bodies of buddhahood and includes all physical forms of all buddhas, including Śākyamuni, whose sole function as incarnations is the development and liberation of living beings.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 6.­1
  • 6.­38
  • g.­119
  • g.­120

Links to further resources:

  • 6 related glossary entries
g.­83

Enlightenment

  • byang chub
  • བྱང་ཆུབ།
  • bodhi

This word requires too much explanation for this glossary because, indeed, the whole sūtra‍—and the whole of Buddhist literature‍—is explanatory of only this. Here we simply mention the translation equivalent.

96 passages contain this term:

  • i.­8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­20
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­36
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­39
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­42
  • 1.­43
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­56
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­12
  • 3.­11
  • 3.­14
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­36
  • 3.­39
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­49
  • 3.­50
  • 3.­51
  • 3.­52
  • 3.­53
  • 3.­67
  • 3.­68
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­72
  • 3.­75
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­81
  • 3.­83
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­26
  • 4.­31
  • 5.­20
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­39
  • 6.­40
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­42
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­15
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­25
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­36
  • 7.­51
  • 7.­52
  • 7.­58
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­11
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­16
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­19
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­5
  • 12.­16
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­25
  • n.­4
  • n.­6
  • n.­29
  • n.­35
  • n.­53
  • n.­86
  • n.­96
  • n.­98
  • n.­104
  • n.­125
  • n.­163
  • g.­4
  • g.­35
  • g.­40
  • g.­52
  • g.­53
  • g.­59
  • g.­77
  • g.­84
  • g.­98
  • g.­113
  • g.­165
  • g.­214
  • g.­273
  • g.­280
  • g.­296
  • g.­319
  • g.­329

Links to further resources:

  • 9 related glossary entries
g.­86

Fearlessness

  • mi ’jigs pa
  • མི་འཇིགས་པ།
  • vaiśāradya

The Buddha has four fearlessnesses, as do the bodhisattvas. The four fearlessnesses of the Buddha are: fearlessness regarding the realization of all things; fearlessness regarding knowledge of the exhaustion of all impurities; fearlessness of foresight through ascertainment of the persistence of obstructions; and fearlessness in the rightness of the path leading to the attainment of the supreme success. The fearlessnesses of the bodhisattva are: fearlessness in teaching the meaning he has understood from what he has learned and practiced; fearlessness resulting from the successful maintenance of purity in physical, verbal, and mental action‍—without relying on others’ kindness, being naturally flawless through his understanding of the absence of self; fearlessness resulting from freedom from obstruction in virtue, in teaching, and in delivering living beings, through the perfection of wisdom and liberative art and through not forgetting and constantly upholding the teachings; and fearlessness in the ambition to attain full mastery of omniscience‍—without any deterioration or deviation to other practices‍—and to accomplish all the aims of all living beings.

8 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­7
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­60
  • 7.­15
  • 7.­52
  • 9.­13
  • 10.­15

Links to further resources:

  • 22 related glossary entries
g.­88

Five deadly sins

  • mtshams med lnga
  • མཚམས་མེད་ལྔ།
  • ānantarya

Lit. “sins of immediate retribution [after death].” These five, all of which cause immediate rebirth in hell, are killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an arhat, breaking up the saṅgha, and causing, with evil intent, the Tathāgata to bleed.

4 passages contain this term:

  • i.­13
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­13
  • n.­6

Links to further resources:

  • 28 related glossary entries
g.­104

Gandharva

  • dri za
  • དྲི་ཟ།
  • gandharva

Lit. “scent-eater.” A heavenly musician.

9 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­14
  • 6.­24
  • 11.­14
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­29

Links to further resources:

  • 114 related glossary entries
g.­107

Garuḍa

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

Magical bird, which protects from snakes.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 5.­12
  • 6.­24
  • 12.­12

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­109

Grace

  • byin gyis brlabs
  • བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབས།
  • adhiṣṭḥāna

The “supernatural power” with which the buddhas sustain the bodhisattvas in their great efforts on behalf of living beings.

3 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 4.­1
  • 10.­22

Links to further resources:

  • 11 related glossary entries
g.­110

Great compassion

  • snying rje chen po
  • སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahākaruṇā

This refers to one of the two central qualities of buddhas or high bodhisattvas: their feeling born of the wish for all living beings to be free of suffering and to attain the supreme happiness. It is important to note that this great compassion has nothing to do with any sentimental emotion such as that stimulated by such a reflection as “Oh, the poor creatures! How they are suffering!” On the contrary, great compassion is accompanied by the clear awareness that ultimately there are no such things as living beings, suffering, etc., in reality. Thus it is a sensitivity that does not entertain any dualistic notion of subject and object; indeed, such an unlimited sensitivity might best be termed “empathy.”

26 passages contain this term:

  • i.­12
  • 3.­10
  • 3.­75
  • 4.­7
  • 4.­18
  • 4.­21
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­4
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­25
  • 7.­5
  • 9.­19
  • 9.­26
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­21
  • 10.­22
  • 12.­11
  • n.­36
  • n.­126
  • n.­144
  • n.­146
  • n.­168
  • g.­26
  • g.­148

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­111

Great love

  • byams pa chen po
  • བྱམས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahāmaitrī

In an effort to maintain distinctions between Buddhism and Christianity, translators have used all sorts of euphemisms for this basic term. Granted, it is not the everyday “love” that means “to like”; it is still the altruistic love that is the finest inspiration of Christ’s teaching, as well as of the Mahāyāna.

11 passages contain this term:

  • i.­12
  • 3.­75
  • 3.­82
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­25
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 12.­11
  • n.­147

Links to further resources:

  • 2 related glossary entries
g.­112

Great spiritual hero

  • sems dpa’ chen po
  • སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • mahāsattva

This translation follows the Tib. (lit. “great mind- hero”), whose translation from Skt. derives from the lo tsā ba’s analysis of sattva as meaning “hero,” rather than simply “being.”

6 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 3.­83
  • 6.­12
  • 6.­16
  • 10.­4
  • 12.­19

Links to further resources:

  • 15 related glossary entries
g.­113

High resolve

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

This is a stage in the conception or initiation of the spirit‌ of enlightenment‌. It follows upon the positive thought, or aspiration to attain it, wherein the bodhisattva becomes filled with a lofty determination that he himself should attain enlightenment, that it is the only thing to do to solve his own problems as well as those of all living beings. This high resolve reaches its most intense purity when the bodhisattva simultaneously attains the Path of Insight and the first bodhisattva-stage, the Stage of Joy. The translation follows Lamotte’s happy coinage “haute résolution.”

18 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­44
  • 3.­29
  • 3.­36
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­78
  • 5.­21
  • 6.­3
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 12.­15
  • n.­37
  • n.­168
  • g.­172
  • g.­214
  • g.­319

Links to further resources:

  • 10 related glossary entries
g.­117

Immaterial realm

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The highest and subtlest of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology. Here beings are no longer bound by materiality and enjoy a purely mental state of absorption. It is divided in four levels according to each of the four formless concentrations (ārūpyāvacaradhyāna), namely, the Sphere of Infinite Space (Ākāśānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness (Vijñānānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Nothingness (A­kiñ­canyāyatana), and the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-perception (Naiva­saṃjñā­nāsaṃjñāyatana). The formless realm is located above the other two realms of saṃsāra: the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the desire realm (kāmadhātu).

4 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­3
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • g.­323

Links to further resources:

  • 18 related glossary entries
g.­118

Incantation

  • gzungs
  • གཟུངས།
  • dhāraṇī

The incantations, or spells, are mnemonic formulas, possessed by advanced bodhisattvas, that contain a quintessence of their attainments, not simply magical charms‍—although the latter are included. The same term in Sanskrit and Tibetan also refers to a highly developed power present in bodhisattvas that is a process of memory and recall of detailed teachings, best translated “retention” in certain contexts.

11 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­4
  • 2.­1
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­21
  • 10.­16
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­20
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­15
  • n.­193
  • g.­316

Links to further resources:

  • 94 related glossary entries
g.­119

Incarnation

  • sprul pa
  • སྤྲུལ་པ།
  • nirmāṇa

See “emanated incarnation.”

11 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­18
  • 3.­19
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­37
  • 9.­13
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­17
  • g.­81
  • g.­148
  • g.­192
  • g.­236

Links to further resources:

  • 6 related glossary entries
g.­123

Inconceivable liberation

  • rnam par thar pa bsam gyis mi khyab pa
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།
  • acintyavimokṣa

Inconceivable liberation of the bodhisattvas, a name of the Avataṃsaka, and a subtitle of the Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśa.

20 passages contain this term:

  • i.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­9
  • i.­13
  • i.­14
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­14
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­17
  • 5.­18
  • 5.­19
  • 5.­20
  • 5.­21
  • 5.­22
  • 9.­12
  • n.­111
  • n.­139
  • n.­141
  • g.­27
  • g.­172
g.­124

Individual Vehicle

  • theg pa dman pa
  • ཐེག་པ་དམན་པ།
  • hīnayāna

See “Disciple Vehicle.”

3 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­4
  • n.­144
  • n.­158

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­127

Instinct

  • bag chags
  • བག་ཆགས།
  • vāsanā

The subconscious tendencies and predilections of the psychosomatic conglomerate. This most obvious word is seldom used in this context because of the hesitancy of scholars to employ “scientific” terminology.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­26
  • 4.­29
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­16
  • n.­124

Links to further resources:

  • 11 related glossary entries
g.­128

Intellect

  • ’du shes
  • འདུ་ཤེས།
  • samjñā

See “aggregate.”

7 passages contain this term:

  • 4.­1
  • 5.­2
  • 8.­18
  • 11.­1
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­285

Links to further resources:

  • 28 related glossary entries
g.­130

Irreversible wheel of the Dharma

  • phyir mi ldog pa’i chos kyi ’khor lo
  • ཕྱིར་མི་ལྡོག་པའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ།
  • avaivartika­dharma­cakra

The fact that the Dharma is not a single dogma, law, or fixed system, but instead an adaptable body of techniques available for any living being to aid in his development and liberation is emphasized by this metaphor. This wheel is said to turn by the current of energy from the needs and wishes of living beings, and its turning automatically converts negative energies (e.g., desire, hatred, and ignorance) to positive ones (e.g., detachment, love, and wisdom).

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­4
  • 6.­28
g.­139

Kinnara

  • mi’am ci
  • མིའམ་ཅི།
  • kinnara

A mythical being with a horse’s head and human body.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 5.­12
  • 6.­24
  • 12.­12

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­147

Liberation

  • mya ngan las ’das pa
  • rnam par grol ba
  • rnam par thar pa
  • མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
  • རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བ།
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ།
  • nirvāṇa
  • vimukti
  • vimokṣa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally “extinction,” the state beyond sorrow, it refers to the ultimate attainment of buddhahood, the permanent cessation of all suffering and of the afflicted mental states that lead to suffering. 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.

78 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­40
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­13
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­19
  • 3.­38
  • 3.­50
  • 3.­58
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­75
  • 4.­10
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­14
  • 4.­17
  • 4.­21
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­24
  • 4.­26
  • 4.­29
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­4
  • 5.­13
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­17
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­19
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­21
  • 6.­23
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­21
  • 7.­27
  • 7.­40
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­30
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­24
  • 10.­15
  • 10.­19
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­23
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­21
  • 12.­3
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­14
  • 12.­15
  • 12.­25
  • n.­34
  • n.­64
  • n.­71
  • n.­102
  • n.­109
  • n.­145
  • n.­156
  • n.­184
  • n.­193
  • n.­200
  • g.­63
  • g.­75
  • g.­78
  • g.­81
  • g.­96
  • g.­130
  • g.­148
  • g.­165
  • g.­193
  • g.­197
  • g.­207
  • g.­287
  • g.­319
  • g.­332
  • g.­350
g.­148

Liberative art

  • thabs
  • ཐབས།
  • upāya

This is the expression in action of the great compassion of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas‍—physical, verbal, and mental. It follows that one empathetically aware of the troubles of living beings would, for his very survival, devise the most potent and efficacious techniques possible to remove those troubles, and the troubles of living beings are removed effectively only when they reach liberation. “Art” was chosen over the usual “method” and “means” because it has a stronger connotation of efficacy in our technological world; also, in Buddhism, liberative art is identified with the extreme of power, energy, and efficacy, as symbolized in the vajra (adamantine scepter): The importance of this term is highlighted in this sūtra by the fact that Vimalakīrti himself is introduced in the chapter entitled “Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art”; this indicates that he, as a function of the nirmāṇakāya (incarnation-body), just like the Buddha himself, is the very incarnation of liberative art, and every act of his life is therefore a technique for the development and liberation of living beings. The “liberative” part of the translation follows “salvifique” in Lamotte’s phrase “moyens salvifique.”

31 passages contain this term:

  • i.­4
  • i.­12
  • i.­14
  • 1.­4
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­44
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­58
  • 3.­69
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­22
  • 4.­23
  • 4.­24
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­26
  • 4.­27
  • 5.­21
  • 5.­22
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­33
  • 7.­55
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­22
  • n.­128
  • n.­139
  • g.­77
  • g.­86

Links to further resources:

  • 21 related glossary entries
g.­149

Licchavi

  • lid tsa bI
  • ལིད་ཙ་བཱི།
  • Licchavi

Name of the tribe and republican city-state whose capital was Vaiśālī, where Vimalakīrti lived, and the main events of this sūtra take place.

88 passages contain this term:

  • i.­3
  • i.­4
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­54
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­12
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­18
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­30
  • 3.­31
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­38
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­47
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­65
  • 3.­66
  • 3.­67
  • 3.­71
  • 3.­73
  • 3.­74
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­4
  • 4.­5
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­6
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­9
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­21
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­43
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­9
  • 7.­16
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­8
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­16
  • 9.­17
  • 9.­19
  • 9.­22
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­27
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­10
  • 10.­17
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­10
  • 11.­13
  • 11.­14
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­19
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­29
  • n.­20
  • g.­45
  • g.­238
  • g.­336

Links to further resources:

  • 15 related glossary entries
g.­150

Life

  • ’khor ba
  • འཁོར་བ།
  • saṃsāra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A state of involuntary existence conditioned by afflicted mental states and the imprint of past actions, characterized by suffering in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. On its reversal, the contrasting state of nirvāṇa is attained, free from suffering and the processes of rebirth.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 4.­11
  • 6.­5
  • 8.­14
  • 9.­24
  • n.­123
  • n.­155
  • g.­45
  • g.­197
  • g.­207
  • g.­215

Links to further resources:

  • 30 related glossary entries
g.­151

Lokapāla

  • ’jig rten skyong
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་།
  • Lokapāla

Lit. “World-Protectors.” They are the same as the four Mahārājas, the great kings of the quarters (rgyal chen bzhi), namely, Vaiśravaṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, and Virūpākṣa, whose mission is to report on the activities of mankind to the gods of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven and who have pledged to protect the practitioners of the Dharma. Each universe has its own set of four.

11 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­3
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­18
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 9.­21
  • 10.­4

Links to further resources:

  • 22 related glossary entries
g.­152

Lord

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

“Lord” is chosen to translate the title Bhagavān because it is the term of greatest respect current in our “sacred” language, as established for the Deity in the Elizabethan version of the Bible. Indeed, the Skt. Bhagavān was given as a title to the Buddha, although it also served the non-Buddhist Indians of the day and, subsequently, it served as an honorific title of their particular deities. As the Buddha is clearly described in the sūtras as the “Supreme Teacher of Gods and Men,” there seems little danger that he may be confused with any particular deity through the use of this term [as indeed in Buddhist sūtras various deities, creators, protectors, etc., are shown in their respective roles]. Thus I feel it would compromise the weight and function of the original Bhagavān to use any less weighty term than “Lord” for the Buddha.

88 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­51
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­55
  • 2.­7
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­4
  • 3.­11
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­14
  • 3.­15
  • 3.­18
  • 3.­20
  • 3.­21
  • 3.­24
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­26
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­30
  • 3.­31
  • 3.­35
  • 3.­37
  • 3.­40
  • 3.­41
  • 3.­42
  • 3.­43
  • 3.­47
  • 3.­48
  • 3.­54
  • 3.­55
  • 3.­62
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­73
  • 3.­74
  • 3.­81
  • 3.­83
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­21
  • 5.­8
  • 7.­39
  • 9.­8
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­11
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­15
  • 9.­22
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­13
  • 10.­17
  • 10.­18
  • 11.­1
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­15
  • 11.­18
  • 11.­20
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­6
  • 12.­10
  • 12.­18
  • 12.­19
  • 12.­23
  • 12.­24
  • 12.­25
  • 12.­26
  • 12.­27
  • 12.­29
  • n.­31
  • n.­33
  • g.­37
  • g.­190

Links to further resources:

  • 116 related glossary entries
g.­154

Mādhyamika

  • dbu ma pa
  • དབུ་མ་པ།
  • Mādhyamika

School based on Madhyamaka, and followers of that school.

14 passages contain this term:

  • n.­30
  • n.­79
  • n.­121
  • n.­164
  • g.­21
  • g.­31
  • g.­42
  • g.­46
  • g.­60
  • g.­85
  • g.­225
  • g.­255
  • g.­273
  • g.­343
g.­165

Mahāyāna

  • theg pa chen po
  • ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།
  • Mahāyāna

The “Great Vehicle” of Buddhism, called “great” because it carries all living beings to enlightenment of Buddhahood. It is distinguished from the Hinayāna, including the Śrāvāka­yāna (Śrāvaka Vehicle) and Pratyeka­buddha­yāna (Solitary Sage Vehicle), which only carries each person who rides on it to their own personal liberation.

59 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­2
  • i.­12
  • i.­15
  • 1.­36
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­4
  • 3.­14
  • 3.­23
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­23
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­20
  • 12.­30
  • n.­6
  • n.­14
  • n.­19
  • n.­20
  • n.­23
  • n.­24
  • n.­40
  • n.­48
  • n.­53
  • n.­57
  • n.­70
  • n.­72
  • n.­85
  • n.­90
  • n.­91
  • n.­94
  • n.­124
  • n.­128
  • n.­144
  • n.­145
  • n.­159
  • n.­165
  • n.­198
  • g.­11
  • g.­22
  • g.­27
  • g.­47
  • g.­49
  • g.­62
  • g.­73
  • g.­77
  • g.­85
  • g.­111
  • g.­161
  • g.­191
  • g.­197
  • g.­251
  • g.­267
  • g.­281
  • g.­289
  • g.­297
  • g.­300
  • g.­343
  • g.­348

Links to further resources:

  • 18 related glossary entries
g.­166

Mahoraga

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

A mythical serpent race.

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 5.­12
  • 6.­24
  • 12.­12

Links to further resources:

  • 71 related glossary entries
g.­168

Maṇḍala

  • dkyil ’khor
  • དཀྱིལ་འཁོར།
  • maṇḍala

A mystic diagram, usually consisting of a square within a circle, used to define a sacred space in the context of esoteric rituals of initiation and consecration preliminary to certain advanced meditational practices.

2 passages contain this term:

  • n.­4
  • n.­162

Links to further resources:

  • 10 related glossary entries
g.­171

Mañjuśrī

  • ’jam dpal
  • ’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa
  • འཇམ་དཔལ།
  • འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།
  • Mañjuśrī
  • Mañjuśrī­kumāra­bhūta

The eternally youthful crown prince (kumārabhūta), so called because of his special identification with the Prajñā­pāramitā, or Transcendence of Wisdom. He is the only member of the Buddha’s retinue who volunteers to visit Vimalakīrti, and he serves as Vimalakīrti’s principal interlocutor throughout the sūtra. Traditionally regarded as the wisest of bodhisattvas, in Tibetan tradition he is known as rgyal ba’i yab gcig, the “sole father of buddhas,” as he inspires them in their realization of the profound. He is represented as bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra in his left. He is always youthful in appearance, like a boy of sixteen.

60 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­6
  • 1.­10
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­4
  • 4.­5
  • 4.­7
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­9
  • 4.­10
  • 4.­11
  • 4.­12
  • 4.­13
  • 4.­14
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­20
  • 4.­27
  • 4.­28
  • 4.­31
  • 5.­6
  • 5.­7
  • 5.­9
  • 6.­1
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­4
  • 6.­5
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­7
  • 6.­8
  • 6.­9
  • 6.­10
  • 6.­11
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­9
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­13
  • 7.­15
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­29
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­2
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­29
  • n.­6
  • n.­114
  • n.­116
  • n.­147
  • n.­162
  • n.­184
  • g.­47
  • g.­85

Links to further resources:

  • 109 related glossary entries
g.­178

Materiality

  • ’jig tshogs
  • འཇིག་ཚོགས།
  • satkāya

Object of egoistic or materialist interest (satkāyadṛṣṭi). See “egoistic views.”

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­9

Links to further resources:

  • 9 related glossary entries
g.­179

Matter

  • gzugs
  • གཟུགས།
  • rūpa

See “aggregate.”

10 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­38
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­1
  • 8.­18
  • 11.­1
  • n.­202
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­75
  • g.­323

Links to further resources:

  • 19 related glossary entries
g.­182

Meditation

  • —
  • —
  • —

See “absorption.”

33 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­39
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­56
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­76
  • 3.­77
  • 3.­78
  • 4.­22
  • 6.­1
  • 7.­26
  • 8.­21
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­21
  • 12.­1
  • n.­4
  • n.­24
  • n.­30
  • n.­53
  • n.­104
  • n.­120
  • g.­1
  • g.­5
  • g.­7
  • g.­77
  • g.­90
  • g.­155
  • g.­184
  • g.­316
  • g.­319
  • g.­326
g.­187

Morality

  • tshul khrims
  • ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།
  • śīla

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Morally virtuous or disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. In a general sense, moral discipline is the cause for rebirth in higher, more favorable states, but it is also foundational to Buddhist practice as one of the three trainings (triśikṣā) and one of the six perfections of a bodhisattva. Often rendered as “ethics,” “discipline,” and “morality.”

19 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­37
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­56
  • 3.­69
  • 3.­76
  • 6.­3
  • 7.­27
  • 7.­53
  • 8.­21
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­27
  • 10.­15
  • 11.­3
  • n.­171
  • g.­1
  • g.­77
  • g.­294

Links to further resources:

  • 31 related glossary entries
g.­188

Motivation

  • ’du byed
  • འདུ་བྱེད།
  • saṃskāra

See “aggregate.”

6 passages contain this term:

  • 5.­2
  • 6.­3
  • 8.­18
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­215

Links to further resources:

  • 40 related glossary entries
g.­190

Nāga

  • klu
  • ཀླུ།
  • nāga

One of the lords of the ocean, appearing as a great, many headed, sea dragon.

10 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­14
  • 6.­24
  • 11.­14
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­19
  • n.­160
  • n.­164

Links to further resources:

  • 91 related glossary entries
g.­203

Noble disciple

  • ’phags pa nyan thos
  • འཕགས་པ་ཉན་ཐོས།
  • āryaśrāvāka

A practitioner of the Disciple Vehicle teaching who has reached at least the initial stages of realization.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­1
  • n.­14
g.­204

Nonduality

  • gnyis su med pa
  • གཉིས་སུ་མེད་པ།
  • advayatvā

This is synonymous with reality, voidness, etc. But it must be remembered that nonduality does not necessarily mean unity, that unity is only one of the pair unity-duality; hence nonduality implies nonunity as well. This point is obscured by designating this nondual philosophy as “monism,” as too many modern scholars have done.

41 passages contain this term:

  • i.­12
  • 3.­25
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­4
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­6
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­8
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­13
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­19
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­25
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­35
  • n.­71
  • n.­157
  • n.­177
  • n.­184

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­213

Passion

  • nyon mongs
  • ཉོན་མོངས།
  • kleśa

Desire, hatred and anger, dullness, pride, and jealousy, as well as all their derivatives, said to number 84,000. Also translated “afflictions.”

30 passages contain this term:

  • i.­13
  • 1.­8
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­11
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­31
  • 3.­60
  • 4.­25
  • 4.­26
  • 6.­2
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­16
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­11
  • 7.­12
  • 7.­13
  • 7.­19
  • 10.­11
  • 10.­12
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • n.­6
  • n.­68
  • n.­124
  • n.­148
  • n.­155
  • g.­6
  • g.­20

Links to further resources:

  • 60 related glossary entries
g.­218

Prabhūtaratna

  • rin chen mang
  • རིན་ཆེན་མང་།
  • Prabhūtaratna

One of the buddhas who assembled at Vimalakīrti’s house to teach esoteric practices, according to the goddess (Chap. 7).

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­30

Links to further resources:

  • 2 related glossary entries
g.­220

Prajñā­pāramitā

  • shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa
  • ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
  • Prajñā­pāramitā

Transcendental wisdom, being the profound nondual understanding of the ultimate reality, or voidness, or relativity, of all things; personified as a goddess, she is worshiped as the “Mother of all Buddhas” (Sarva­jina­mātā).

4 passages contain this term:

  • i.­1
  • n.­139
  • g.­171
  • g.­244

Links to further resources:

  • 20 related glossary entries
g.­229

Pratyekabuddha

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyeka­buddha is not final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­235

Ratnacandra

  • dkon mchog zla ba
  • དཀོན་མཆོག་ཟླ་བ།
  • Ratnacandra

One of the buddhas who assembled at Vimalakīrti’s house to teach the Tathāgata­guhyaka, according to the goddess.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­30
g.­244

Ratnārcis

  • dkon mchog ’od ’phro
  • དཀོན་མཆོག་འོད་འཕྲོ།
  • Ratnārcis

One of the buddhas who appear in the house of Vimalakīrti on esoteric occasions. According to the Prajñā­pāramitā, he is the Buddha of the universe Upaśānta, in the western direction (see Lamotte, p. 384, n. 27).

3 passages contain this term:

  • 6.­30
  • 12.­17
  • g.­236
g.­245

Ratnaśrī

  • dkon mchog dpal
  • དཀོན་མཆོག་དཔལ།
  • Ratnaśrī

One of the buddhas who appear in the house of Vimalakīrti on esoteric occasions; the Sanskrit name, but with a different rendering in Tibetan, also refers to a bodhisattva.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­30
g.­248

Ratnavyūha

  • dkon mchog dkod pa
  • rin po che bkod pa
  • rin chen bkod pa
  • དཀོན་མཆོག་དཀོད་པ།
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བཀོད་པ།
  • རིན་ཆེན་བཀོད་པ།
  • Ratnavyūha

Lit. “Jewel-Array.” Name of one of the bodhisattvas in the original assembly (rendered in Tibetan as rin chen bkod pa); also the name (with several renderings in Tibetan) of a buddha who presides in the universe called Ananta­guṇa­ratna­vyūha, yet who comes to Vimalakīrti’s house at the latter’s supplication, to participate in the esoteric teachings. He can be identified with the Tathāgata Ratnasaṃbhava, one of the five major buddhas of the Guhya­samāja­tantra.

5 passages contain this term:

  • i.­14
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­51
  • 6.­30
  • g.­16

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­252

Realm of desire

  • ’dod khams
  • འདོད་ཁམས།
  • kāmadhātu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhist cosmology, this is our own realm, the lowest and most coarse of the three realms of saṃsāra. It is called this because beings here are characterized by their strong longing for and attachment to the pleasures of the senses. The desire realm includes hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and the lowest six heavens of the gods‍—from the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahā­rājika) up to the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (Para­nirmita­vaśa­vartin). Located above the desire realm is the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).

6 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­3
  • 5.­2
  • 9.­18
  • g.­7
  • g.­138
  • g.­330

Links to further resources:

  • 24 related glossary entries
g.­253

Realm of pure matter

  • gzugs khams
  • གཟུགས་ཁམས།
  • rūpadhātu

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology, it is characterized by subtle materiality. Here beings, though subtly embodied, are not driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification. It consists of seventeen heavens structured according to the four concentrations of the form realm (rūpāvacaradhyāna), the highest five of which are collectively called “the five pure abodes” (Śuddhāvāsa). The form realm is located above the desire realm (kāmadhātu) and below the formless realm (ārūpya­dhātu).

5 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­3
  • 5.­2
  • 9.­18
  • g.­37
  • g.­260

Links to further resources:

  • 20 related glossary entries
g.­254

Reconciliation of dichotomies

  • snrel zhi’i rgyud
  • snrel zhi ba
  • སྣྲེལ་ཞིའི་རྒྱུད།
  • སྣྲེལ་ཞི་བ།
  • yamaka­vyatyastāhāra

The twelfth of the eighteen special qualities of a bodhisattva.

8 passages contain this term:

  • i.­12
  • i.­13
  • 4.­1
  • 12.­20
  • n.­4
  • n.­44
  • n.­195
  • g.­77
g.­260

Śakra

  • brgya byin
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
  • Śakra

In Buddhist texts, usual name for Indra, king of gods of the desire-realm (kāmadhātu) of a particular universe; hence a Śakra is lower in status than a Brahmā, who resides at the summit of the realm of pure matter (rūpadhātu). As in the case of Brahmā, a title, or status, rather than a personal name; each universe has its Śakra.

22 passages contain this term:

  • i.­8
  • 1.­11
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­6
  • 3.­63
  • 3.­65
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­3
  • 5.­8
  • 5.­18
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­27
  • 7.­39
  • 9.­21
  • 10.­4
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­2
  • 12.­4
  • 12.­6
  • g.­37
  • g.­45
  • g.­138

Links to further resources:

  • 107 related glossary entries
g.­262

Śākyamuni

  • shAkya thub pa
  • ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།
  • Śākyamuni

The “Sage of the Śākyas,” name of the Buddha of our era, who lived c. 563-483 B.C.

27 passages contain this term:

  • i.­7
  • i.­14
  • 1.­20
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­49
  • 3.­27
  • 6.­30
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­26
  • 10.­18
  • 10.­24
  • 11.­18
  • 12.­19
  • n.­100
  • n.­212
  • g.­30
  • g.­39
  • g.­73
  • g.­81
  • g.­141
  • g.­167
  • g.­211
  • g.­234
  • g.­258
  • g.­261

Links to further resources:

  • 52 related glossary entries
g.­272

Saṅgha

  • dge ’dun
  • དགེ་འདུན།
  • Saṅgha

The third of the Three Jewels (Triratna) of Buddhism, the Buddha, the Teaching, and the Community. Sometimes narrowly defined as the community of mendicants, it can be understood as including lay practitioners.

14 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­5
  • 3.­16
  • 3.­17
  • 3.­69
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­18
  • 8.­23
  • n.­62
  • n.­83
  • n.­88
  • n.­198
  • g.­88
  • g.­157
  • g.­294

Links to further resources:

  • 32 related glossary entries
g.­273

Śāntideva

  • zhi ba lha
  • ཞི་བ་ལྷ།
  • Śāntideva

(Eighth century). A great master of the Mādhyamika, famous for his remarkable work, “Introduction to the Practice of Enlightenment” (Bodhi­caryāvatāra).

2 passages contain this term:

  • n.­153
  • g.­289

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­274

Śāriputra

  • shA ri bu
  • ཤཱ་རི་བུ།
  • Śāriputra

One of the major śrāvaka disciples, paired with Maudgalyāyana, and noted for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise; hence, the most frequent target for Vimalakīrti’s attacks on the śrāvakas and on the Hinayāna in general.

(See also n.­40)

79 passages contain this term:

  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­47
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­50
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­53
  • 3.­2
  • 3.­3
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­2
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­4
  • 5.­5
  • 5.­10
  • 5.­11
  • 5.­12
  • 5.­13
  • 5.­14
  • 5.­16
  • 5.­19
  • 5.­20
  • 6.­13
  • 6.­14
  • 6.­15
  • 6.­16
  • 6.­17
  • 6.­18
  • 6.­19
  • 6.­20
  • 6.­21
  • 6.­22
  • 6.­23
  • 6.­24
  • 6.­25
  • 6.­26
  • 6.­27
  • 6.­28
  • 6.­29
  • 6.­30
  • 6.­31
  • 6.­32
  • 6.­33
  • 6.­34
  • 6.­36
  • 6.­37
  • 6.­38
  • 6.­39
  • 6.­40
  • 6.­41
  • 6.­42
  • 6.­43
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­19
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­8
  • 10.­9
  • 11.­4
  • 11.­5
  • 11.­6
  • 11.­7
  • 11.­8
  • 11.­9
  • 11.­10
  • 11.­11
  • 11.­12
  • 11.­20
  • n.­40
  • n.­56
  • n.­57
  • n.­157
  • n.­163
  • n.­164
  • n.­184
  • g.­159
  • g.­180

Links to further resources:

  • 63 related glossary entries
g.­276

Sarvārtha­siddha

  • don thams cad grub pa
  • དོན་ཐམས་ཅད་གྲུབ་པ།
  • Sarvārtha­siddha

One of the buddhas who appear in Vimalakīrti’s house to teach the Tathāgata­guhyaka, according to the goddess.

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­14
  • 6.­30

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­280

Seat of enlightenment

  • byang chub kyi snying po
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།
  • bodhimaṇḍa

Haribhadra defines it as “a place used as a seat, where the maṇḍa, here ‘essence,’ of enlightenment is present.” See Lamotte, p. 198, n. 105. The main “seat of enlightenment” is the spot under the bo tree at Buddha Gaya, where the Buddha sat and attained unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. It is not to be confused with bodhimaṇḍala, “circle of enlightenment.”

8 passages contain this term:

  • 3.­55
  • 3.­61
  • 3.­69
  • 12.­1
  • 12.­12
  • n.­98
  • g.­10
  • g.­217

Links to further resources:

  • 32 related glossary entries
g.­281

Self

  • bdag
  • བདག
  • ātma

It is crucial to understand what is meant by “self,” before one is able to realize the all-important “absence of self.” Before we can discover an absence, we have to know what we are looking for. In Mahāyāna, there is a self of persons and a self of things, both presumed habitually by living beings and hence informative of their perceptions. Were these “selves” to exist as they appear because of our presumption, they should exist as substantial, self-subsistent entities within things, or as the intrinsic realities of things, or as the intrinsic identities of things, all permanent, unrelated and unrelative, etc. The nondiscovery of such “selves” within changing, relative, interdependent persons and things is the realization of ultimate reality, or absence of self.

27 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­12
  • 3.­25
  • 3.­34
  • 4.­15
  • 4.­16
  • 4.­17
  • 4.­19
  • 6.­3
  • 6.­5
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­27
  • n.­18
  • n.­64
  • n.­123
  • n.­152
  • n.­171
  • g.­4
  • g.­74
  • g.­82
  • g.­94
  • g.­97
  • g.­116
  • g.­255
  • g.­312
  • g.­326

Links to further resources:

  • 3 related glossary entries
g.­283

Sensation

  • tshor ba
  • ཚོར་བ།
  • vedanā

see “aggregates”

9 passages contain this term:

  • 4.­18
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­2
  • 8.­18
  • 11.­1
  • n.­98
  • g.­7
  • g.­74
  • g.­95

Links to further resources:

  • 21 related glossary entries
g.­284

Sense-media

  • skye mched
  • སྐྱེ་མཆེད།
  • āyatana

The twelve sense-media are eye-medium (cakṣurāyatana), form-medium (rūpa-), ear-medium (śrotra-), sound-medium (śabda-), nose-medium (ghrāna-), scent-medium (gandha-), tongue-medium (jihvā-), taste-medium (rasa-), body-medium (kāya-), texture-medium (spraṣṭavya), mental-medium (mana-), and phenomena-medium (dharmāyatana). In some passages they are enumerated as six, the object-faculty pair being taken as one, and it is this set of six that is the fifth member of the twelve links of dependent origination. The word āyatana is usually translated as “base,” but the Skt., Tib., and Ch. all indicate “something through which the senses function” rather than a basis from which they function; hence “medium” is suggested.

11 passages contain this term:

  • 2.­9
  • 3.­53
  • 3.­69
  • 5.­2
  • 7.­9
  • 10.­20
  • 11.­1
  • n.­98
  • n.­102
  • n.­167
  • g.­80

Links to further resources:

  • 58 related glossary entries
g.­290

Siṃhaghoṣa

  • seng ge’i sgra
  • སེང་གེའི་སྒྲ།
  • Siṃhaghoṣa

One of the buddhas who teach the Tathāgata­guhyaka on certain occasions in Vimalakīrti’s house.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­30

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­292

Siṃhanādanādī

  • seng ge bsgrags pa
  • སེང་གེ་བསྒྲགས་པ།
  • Siṃhanādanādī

One of the buddhas who teach the Tathāgata­guhyaka on certain occasions in Vimalakīrti’s house.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 6.­30
g.­299

Śrāvakayāna

  • nyan thos kyi theg pa
  • ཉན་ཐོས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ།
  • śrāvakayāna

The vehicle comprising the teaching of the śrāvakas.

20 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­55
  • 3.­23
  • 6.­23
  • n.­30
  • n.­40
  • n.­48
  • n.­56
  • n.­57
  • n.­64
  • n.­187
  • n.­190
  • n.­195
  • n.­198
  • g.­20
  • g.­62
  • g.­85
  • g.­124
  • g.­193
  • g.­194
  • g.­203

Links to further resources:

  • 10 related glossary entries
g.­302

Stores of merit and wisdom

  • bsod nams dang ye shes kyi tshogs
  • བསོད་ནམས་དང་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ཚོགས།
  • puṇya­jñāna­saṃbhāra

The two great stores to be accumulated by bodhisattvas: the store of merit, arising from their practice of the first three transcendences, and the store of wisdom, arising from their practice of the last two transcendences. All deeds of bodhisattvas contribute to their accumulation of these two stores, which ultimately culminate in the two bodies of the Buddha, the body of form and the ultimate body.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­6
  • 2.­10
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­6
g.­313

Superknowledges

  • mngon par shes pa
  • མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།
  • abhijñā

Special powers of which five, acquired through the meditative contemplations (dhyāna), are considered mundane (laukika) and can be attained to some extent by outsider yogis as well as Buddhist arhats and bodhisattvas; and a sixth‍—being acquired through a bodhisattva’s realization, or by buddhas alone according to some accounts‍—is supramundane (lokottara). The first five are: divine eye or vision (divyacakṣu), divine hearing (divyaśrotra), knowledge of others’ minds (paracittajñāna), knowledge of former (and future) lives (pūrva­[para]­nivāsānu­smṛti­jñāna), and knowledge of magical operations (ṛddhi­vidhi­jñāna). The sixth, supramundane one is knowledge of the exhaustion of defilements (āsravakṣaya­jñāna).

17 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­10
  • 3.­27
  • 3.­58
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­30
  • 5.­9
  • 6.­43
  • 7.­23
  • 7.­53
  • 10.­20
  • 10.­22
  • 12.­15
  • n.­131
  • g.­19
  • g.­71

Links to further resources:

  • 44 related glossary entries
g.­314

Sūtra

  • mdo
  • མདོ།
  • sūtra

In general Indian usage, the word for a highly condensed arrangement of verses that lends itself to memorization, serving as a basic text for a particular school of thought. In Buddhism, a scripture, in as much as it records either the direct speech of the Buddha, or the speech of someone manifestly inspired by him.

57 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­2
  • i.­3
  • i.­8
  • i.­9
  • i.­11
  • i.­12
  • i.­14
  • i.­15
  • 12.­11
  • 12.­12
  • 12.­30
  • n.­14
  • n.­19
  • n.­20
  • n.­23
  • n.­29
  • n.­30
  • n.­40
  • n.­53
  • n.­90
  • n.­91
  • n.­94
  • n.­162
  • n.­184
  • n.­193
  • n.­195
  • n.­206
  • g.­1
  • g.­7
  • g.­11
  • g.­14
  • g.­27
  • g.­30
  • g.­44
  • g.­47
  • g.­50
  • g.­73
  • g.­83
  • g.­85
  • g.­98
  • g.­125
  • g.­143
  • g.­148
  • g.­149
  • g.­152
  • g.­167
  • g.­171
  • g.­191
  • g.­221
  • g.­251
  • g.­267
  • g.­289
  • g.­300
  • g.­304
  • g.­351

Links to further resources:

  • 13 related glossary entries
g.­318

Tathāgata

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

Lit. “Thus-gone” or “Thus-come,” (one who proceeds always in consciousness of the ultimate reality, or thatness of all things). A name of the Buddha.

109 passages contain this term:

  • i.­4
  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­8
  • i.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­48
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­51
  • 1.­53
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­11
  • 3.­1