The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch
Glossary

Also translated here as “without conceptual elaborations.”

A religious mendicant of the Indian sect founded by Gosāla Maṅkhaliputra.

The highest of all the form realm (rūpadhātu) worlds. The world of devas “equal in rank” (literally “having no one as the youngest”).

Lit. “Nectar Intelligence.”

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).

Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Lit. “Unobstructed.” One of the ten great śrāvaka disciples, famed for his meditative prowess and superknowledges. He was the Buddha's cousin‍—a son of Amṛtodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana‍—and is often mentioned along with his two brothers Bhadrika and Mahānāma. Some sources also include Ānanda among his brothers.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

dmigs (pa) translates a number of Sanskrit terms, including ālambana, upalabdhi, and alambhate. These terms commonly refer to the apprehending of a subject, an object, and the relationships that exist between them. The term may also be translated as “referentiality,” meaning a system based on the existence of referent objects, referent subjects, and the referential relationships that exist between them. As part of their doctrine of “threefold nonapprehending/nonreferentiality” (’khor gsum mi dmigs pa), Mahāyāna Buddhists famously assert that all three categories of apprehending lack substantiality.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions or emotions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.

A term for realized beings in Buddhism. Also translated here as “noble one.”

The dome-shaped assembly hall where Indra teaches the Dharma located on the southwest side of Mount Meru.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.

Negi gives the Skt. apāyajaha for ngan song spong ’joms pa, where it refers to the name of a bodhisattva.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

Translation tentative.

A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world where other beings consider him the creator. He is also considered to be the “Lord of the Sahā World” (our universe).

Refers to the fourfold practice of love, compassion, joy, and impartiality.

Refers to a pratyekabuddha. See n.­109.

A general term for non-Buddhist religious mendicants, often occurring together with parivrājaka and nirgrantha in stock lists of followers of non-Buddhist movements.

Also translated here as “procedure.”

The abodes inhabited by anāgāmins (“non-returners”) who are on the path to arhathood.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

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

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

In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned, and they are the inner sense sources (similar to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)

Lit. “Intelligence of Dhāraṇī.”

Lit. “Cloud of Dharma.”

One of ten different kinds of verbal phrase or statement (Skt. pada) mentioned in this text.

Another name for the Dravidian, non-Aryan people and language(s) of South India and northern Sri Lanka. Dramiḍa (actually spelled drāmiḍa in the Sanskrit of the quote from this text in the Śikṣāsamuccaya) is the origin of the word Tamil; other Dravidian languages are Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In the context of Buddhist philosophy, one way to describe experience in terms of eighteen elements (eye, form, and eye consciousness; ear, sound, and ear consciousness; nose, smell, and nose consciousness; tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness; body, touch, and body consciousness; and mind, mental phenomena, and mind consciousness).

This also refers to the elements of the world, which can be enumerated as four, five, or six. The four elements are earth, water, fire, and air. A fifth, space, is often added, and the sixth is consciousness.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In its most general sense, this term refers to the state of freedom from suffering and cyclic existence, or saṃsāra, that is the goal of the Buddhist path. More specifically, the term may refer to a category of advanced meditative attainment such as those of the “eight liberations.”

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A set of ten concepts and emotional reactions that perpetuate one’s continued rebirth in saṃsāra: false attribution of a self based in relation to the aggregates (satkāyadṛṣṭi; ’jig tshogs la lta ba), doubt (vicikitsā; the tshom), privileging rituals and observances (śīla­vrata­parāmarśa; tshul khrims dang brtul zhugs mchog tu ’dzin pa), craving sense pleasures (kāmarāga; ’dod pa la ’dod chags), malice (vyāpāda; gnod sems), craving rebirth in the realm of subtle form (rūparāga; gzugs la chags pa), craving rebirth in the realm of the immaterial (arūpyarāga; gzugs med pa’i ’dod chags), pride (māna; nga rgyal), mental agitation (auddhatya; rgod pa), and ignorance (avidyā; ma rig pa).

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This term denotes the ontological status of phenomena, according to which they are said to possess existence in their own right‍—inherently, in and of themselves, objectively, and independent of any other phenomena such as our conception and labelling. The absence of such an ontological reality is defined as the true nature of reality, emptiness.

One of the ten factors to be understood in the context of the expertise of the bodhisattva who is a regent.

The ascetic practice of sitting between “five fires,” i.e., a fire in each cardinal direction with the sun overhead.

Also translated here as “having no basis.”

Also translated here as “groundlessness.”

One of ten different kinds of verbal phrase or statement (Skt. pada) mentioned in this text.

In the context of sentient beings being “immeasurable.” One of the ten topics to be expounded to the bodhisattva who has perfected application.

Also translated here as “motionless.”

Hindu god of fire; a central deity in the Vedas.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.

“Black Line.”

Lit. “Black One.”

Indian beech tree (pongamia glabra); used medicinally.

One of ten different kinds of verbal phrase or statement (Skt. pada) mentioned in this text.

One of ten different kinds of verbal phrase or statement (Skt. pada) mentioned in this text.

Not in Negi. rdo rje ’od ma appears in Negi as Skt. Vajrābha.

An ancient Indian kingdom located in what is today southern Bihar.

Lit. “Great Intelligence.”

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the principal hearer disciples of the Buddha. Paired with Śāriputra, he was renowned for his miraculous powers. His family clan was descended from Mudgala, hence his name Maudgalyā­yana, “the son of Mudgala’s descendants.” Respectfully referred to as Mahā­maudgalyā­yana.

Lit. “Attained Great Magical Power.”

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in Tuṣita heaven, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. He is the only bodhisattva widely accepted outside the Mahāyāna traditions, though his role there is much less central than in the Mahāyāna schools of India, China, Tibet, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. His future coming as a buddha is predicted in the Pali Canon, where he is mentioned in the Cakkavattisīhanādasutta of the Dīgha Nikāya, and in the Mahāvastu, a canonical text of the Lokottaravāda school of the Mahāsaṅghikas. The prophecy of the future awakening of Maitreya is told in the Mūla­sarvāstivādavinaya, in the Bhaiṣajya­vastu, the sixth chapter of the Vinayavastu (The Chapter on Medicines, Bhaiṣajya­vastu, Toh 1, ch. 6). Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. His name literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita.

In the Kangyur, we find a few short sūtras, such as Maitreya’s Rebirth in the Heaven of Joy (Toh 199), describing the circumstances leading to his awakening, his future appearance in the world, and the methods to apply if one wishes to be reborn close to him at that time. On his bodhisattva career and the circumstances for his initial arousing of the mind set on awakening, see Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198). Other sūtras in which previous lives of the bodhisattva Maitreya are recounted include The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Toh 113), The Sublime Golden Light (Toh 555–57), and The Question of Maitreya (Toh 85). Maitreya also occupies a central role in some of the most famous Mahāyāna sūtras, such as The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Toh 176), The Rice Seedling (Toh 210), The Stem Array (Toh 44-45), The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Toh 12), and The King of Samādhis (Toh 127).

Also rendered here as “Mañjuśrī Kumāra­bhūta.”

Also rendered here as “Mañjuśrī.”

One of ten different kinds of verbal phrase or statement (Skt. pada) mentioned in this text.

Also translated here as “immovable.”

One of ten different kinds of verbal phrase or statement (Skt. pada) mentioned in this text.

The second highest of the six heavens of the desire realm.

Lit. “Always Energetic.”

A term for realized beings in Buddhism. Also translated here as “ārya.”

See n.­112.

See n.­112.

The sixth and highest of the six heavens of the desire realm.

Lit. “Very Hot.”

Lit. “Heap of Eloquence.”

“Solitary realizer” or “solitary buddha.”

Also translated here as “ceremony.”

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The ancient capital of Magadha prior to its relocation to Pāṭaliputra during the Mauryan dynasty, Rājagṛha is one of the most important locations in Buddhist history. The literature tells us that the Buddha and his saṅgha spent a considerable amount of time in residence in and around Rājagṛha enjoying the patronage of King Bimbisāra and then of his son King Ajātaśatru. Rājagṛha is also remembered as the location where the first Buddhist monastic council was held after the Buddha Śākyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa. Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar.

Lit. “Jewel Mudrā in Hand.”

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the six heavens of the desire realm, where all future buddhas dwell prior to their awakening. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)

Also translated here as “single” in the context of the ten continuities of Dharma.

Lit. “Son of Śāri,” also known as “Śāriputra,” one of two main male disciples of the Buddha.

Vedic term for a realized being.

Also translated here as “same” in the context of the ten continuities of Dharma.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

It is usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily it refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat by seeking self-liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering disturbing emotions, they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

One of ten different kinds of verbal phrase or statement (Skt. pada) mentioned in this text.

A jewel.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to ancient Buddhist cosmology, Meru is the great mountain forming the axis of the universe. At its summit lies Sudarśana, home of Śakra and his thirty-two gods, and on its flanks live the asuras. The mount has four sides facing the cardinal directions, each of which is made of a different precious stone. Surrounding it are several mountain ranges and the great ocean where the four great island continents lie: in the south, Jambudvīpa (our world); in the west, Godānīya; in the north, Uttarakuru; in the east, Pūrvavideha. Above it are the abodes of the gods of the realm of desire. Often also referred to as Mount Sumeru.

Lit. “Pressing with Utmost Skill.”

Lit. “Hot.”

In the Tibetan translation of the Avataṃsaka, this same term is rendered byang chub sems dpa’ rnam par dgod pa bcu.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra in his left. In addition to the epithet Kumārabhūta, which means "having a youthful form," Mañjuśrī is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.

Literally meaning a “ford,” “crossing place,” or “confluence,” the term is used to refer to the geographical holy places and pilgrimage sites (whether associated with rivers or not) of both Hinduism and Jainism, and by extension to the spiritual practices of pilgrimage in general.

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Those of other religious or philosophical orders, contemporary with the early Buddhist order, including Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Initially, the term tīrthika or tīrthya may have referred to non-brahmanic ascetic orders. Tīrthika (“forder”) literally translates as “one belonging to or associated with (possessive suffix –ika) stairs for landing or for descent into a river,” or “a bathing place,” or “a place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams” (Monier-Williams). The term may have originally referred to temple priests at river crossings or fords where travelers propitiated a deity before crossing. The Sanskrit term seems to have undergone metonymic transfer in referring to those able to ford the turbulent river of saṃsāra (as in the Jain tīrthaṅkaras, “ford makers”), and it came to be used in Buddhist sources to refer to teachers of rival religious traditions. The Sanskrit term is closely rendered by the Tibetan mu stegs pa: “those on the steps (stegs pa) at the edge (mu).”

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A term meaning acceptance, forbearance, or patience. As the third of the six perfections, patience is classified into three kinds: the capacity to tolerate abuse from sentient beings, to tolerate the hardships of the path to buddhahood, and to tolerate the profound nature of reality. As a term referring to a bodhisattva’s realization, dharmakṣānti (chos la bzod pa) can refer to the ways one becomes “receptive” to the nature of Dharma, and it can be an abbreviation of anutpattikadharmakṣānti, “forbearance to the unborn nature, or nonproduction, of dharmas.”