GLOSSARY reign of King Trisong Detsen, the great master subjugated the evil forces hostile to the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet, spread the Buddhist teaching of Vajrayiina in that country and hid innumerable spiritual treasures for the sake of future generations He is venerated as the Second Buddha whose coming was predicted by the first one, Buddha Siikyamuni, to give the special teachings of Vajrayana Palace of Lotus Light - padma 'od kyi brang, the palace of Padmasambhava in the Buddhafield of the Glorious Copper-coloured Mountain Palmo (nun) - dge slong ma dpal mo, famous Indian nun who propagated the practice of Nyung-ne (one-day fast and vow of silence} and attained the supreme accomplishment through the practice of Avalokite5vara Palyul (monastery) - dpal yul, one of the six great monasteries of the Nyingmapa school PaQ4ita- a scholar, someone learned in the five traditional sciences (see: five sciences) Particularly used to refer to Indian scholars Path of accumulating - tshogs lam, Skt sambharamarga, the first of the five paths towards total enlightenment, according to the Bodhisattva vehicle On this path one accumulates the causes which will make it possible to proceed towards enlightenment Path of joining- sbyor lam, Skt prayogamarga, the second of the five paths On this path one connects oneself to or prepares oneself for seeing the two kinds of absence of self Path of seeing - mthong lam, Skt darsanamarga, the third of the five paths, according to the Bodhisattva vehicle It is called this because on it one really sees the two kinds of absence of 'self' (i.e of true, independent existence), that of the individual and that of phenomena Perceptions - snang ba, that which appears in the eyes of each individual according to his or her tendencies or spiritual development NT, quoting Patrul Rinpoche, speaks of three types of perception: 1) deluded perceptions, which arise in the consciouness of the beings of the six realms due to misunderstanding; they are called the impure deluded perceptions of the universe and beings 2) the perceptions of interdependence (rten 'brei), magical illusions (sgyu ma), corresponding to the eight similes of illusion which one does not apprehend as real (see page 252); these are the perceptions of the bodhisattvas of the ten levels in their post-meditation state (rjes thob) 3) the authentic, perfect, perceptions of wisdom; when one has realized the natural state of everything, the beings and the universe appear as the display of the kiiyas and wisdoms Perfection phase- rdzogs rim, Skt sampannakrama "with characteristics" (mtshan bcas), it is the meditation on the channels and energies of the body visualized as a vajra body "without characteristics" (mtshan med), 427 GLOSSARY it is the meditation phase during which the forms visualized in the generation phase are dissolved and one remains in the experience of emptiness Phlegm - bad kan, one of the three humours according to Tibetan medicine See also wind, bile Pitaka- see Tripitaka Pitaka, (fourth) - sde snod bzhi pa, the pitaka of the Secret Mantrayiina Pith-instructions - man ngag, Skt upadesa, instructions explaining the most profound points of the teachings in a condensed and direct way for the purposes of practice Positive action - dge ba, Skt kusala "That which produces happiness" (Dudjom Rinpoche) AT: beneficial act, virtue Potowa, (Geshe)- po to ba (1031-1105), one of the Three Brothers, the three foremost disciples of Drom Tonpa (the founder of the Kadampa school) Priitimok~a - so sor thar pa, lit individual liberation The vows of individual liberation are the eight categories of vows taught in the Vinaya, from the simple one day vow up to the complete vows of fully ordained monks See three vows Pratyekabuddha - rang sangs rgyas, "someone reaching the end of sarhsiira without the help of a spiritual master By studying the nature of interdependent origination, he realizes the absence of true existence of the self and half-realizes the absence of true existence of phenomena." DICT Precious canopy - rin po che'i gdugs, one of the eight auspicious signs, it corresponds to the Buddha's head and symbolizes protection from negative actions Precious Master of 044iyiina - o rgyan rin po che, one of the names of Padmasambhava Precious word empowerment - tshig dbang rin po che, the fourth empowerment "which eliminates the defilements of body, speech, mind and habitual tendencies, enables one to meditate on the natural Great Perfection and sows the seed for obtaining vajra wisdom and the svabhavikakiiya." DICT Preliminaries - sngon 'gro See five hundred thousand preliminaries Preparation, main part and conclusion - sbyor dngos rjes gsum, the three supreme methods for any practice: 1) beginning by checking that one has the compassionate motivation, 2) practising without materialistic concepts, and 3) ending by dedicating the merit to the enlightenment of all beings Preta- yi dvags, AT: hungry spirit, spirit, hungry ghost Primal wisdom- ye shes, Skt jnana, "the knowing (shes pa) that has always 428 GLOSSARY been present since the beginning (ye nas), awareness, clarity-emptiness, naturally dwelling in the mindstream of all beings." DICT Primordial purity - ka dag, the nature of Buddhahood, present in all beings, the purity of which can never be spoiled Principle of cause and effect -las rgyu 'bras, lit action, cause and fruit Process by which every action produces a corresponding effect See karma Profound insight - /hag mthong, Skt vipa§yana, "to see with the eye of wisdom the particular nature of things." DICT Prostration - phyag 'tshal ba, gesture of reverence, in which the forehead, the two hands and the two knees touch the ground Protectors - see Dharma protectors Protectors of the Three Families - rigs gsum mgon po, the Bodhisattvas Maiijusri, Avalokitdvara and Vajrapa.,i The three families are respectively those of the body, speech and mind of the Buddha Puchungwa, (Geshe) - phu chung ba, one of the Three Brothers Piir.,akisyapa- 'od srung rdzogs byed, a leading tirthika master at the time of the Buddha Pure land - dag pa'i zhing, a place or world manifested by a Buddha or great Bodhisattva through the spontaneous qualities of his realization There, beings can progress towards enlightenment without falling back into the lower realms of sarhsira Also, any place whatsoever, when it is perceived as a pure manifestation of spontaneous wisdom Pure Land of Bliss- bde ba can, Skt Sukhavati, the Buddhafield of Amitibha Pure levels (three) - dag pa sa gsum, the eighth, ninth and tenth Bodhisattva levels, thus called because Bodhisattvas on these levels are totally free from the obscuration of negative emotions (nyon sgrib) Pure perception - dag snang, "the perception of all the world and its contents as a pure Buddhafield, as the display of kayas and wisdoms." DICT Rik~asa - srin po, a kind of malignant spirit that eats human flesh Ratnasambhava- rin chen 'byung gnas, the Buddha of the Jewel Family See five families Real meaning - nges don, Skt nitartha, direct expression of truth from the point of view of realized beings See also expedient meaning Realm - see six realms Refuge- 1) skyabs yul, the object in which one takes refuge 2) skyabs 'gro, the practice of taking refuge Relative truth - kun rdzob bden pa, Skt samvriti satya, the apparent truth perceived and taken as real by the deluded mind Repa Shiwa - ras pa zhi ba 'od, one of the main disciples of Milarepa 429 GLOSSARY Rinchen Zangpo- rin chen bzang po (958-1055), the most famous translator of the second propagation of Buddhism in Tibet, when the New Tradition began ij.i~i - drang srong, 1) sage, hermit, saint, particularly the famous sages of Indian myth, who had enormous longevity and magical powers 2) name of a constellation Root teacher- rtsa ba'i bla ma, 1) the principal, or first, spiritual teacher from whom one has received empowerments, commentaries and pith instructions 2) the teacher who has introduced one to the nature of the mind Royal posture - rgyal po'i rol stabs, sitting posture with the right leg half stretched and the left drawn in Rupakaya - gzugs sku, Body of Form, which includes the sambhogakaya and nirma1.1akaya together Sadaprarudita- rtag tu ngu, a Bodhisattva whose name means "Ever Weeping", on account of the numerous tears he shed in his quest to receive the teachings on transcendent wisdom Sakyamuni - sha kya thub pa, the Buddha of our time, who lived around the 5th century B.C Sakyapa- sa skya pa, one of the schools of the New Tradition, founded by Khon Konchok Gyalpo (1034-1102) Samantabhadra- kun tu bzang po, 1) the original Buddha (Adibuddha), he who has never fallen into delusion, the Dharmakaya Buddha represented as a naked figure, deep blue like the sky, in union with Samantabhadri, as a symbol of awareness-emptiness, the pure, absolute nature ever present and unobstructed The source of the lineage of the tantra transmissions of the Nyingma school 2) Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, one of the Eight Great Close Sons, renowned for the way in which, through the power of his concentration, he miraculously multiplied the offerings he made Samaya - dam tshig, lit promise Sacred links between teacher and disciple, and also between disciples, in the Vajrayana The Sanskrit word samaya can mean: agreement, engagement, convention, precept, boundary, etc Although there are many detailed obligations, the most essential samaya is to consider the teacher's body, speech and mind as pure Samaya object or substance - dam tshig gi rdzas, object or ingredient which is necessary for or enhances the practices of the Vajrayana Sambhogakaya -longs spyod rdzogs pa'i sku, Body of Perfect Enjoyment, the spontaneously luminous aspect of Buddhahood, only perceptible to highly realized beings Sarilsara - 'khor ba, the cycle of existence in which one is endlessly propelled by negative emotions and the karmic force of one's actions from one state of rebirth to another 430 GLOSSARY Sarilvarasara- bde mchog snying po, one of Maiijusri's names Samye - bsam yas, the first monastery in Tibet, in the Tsangpo valley south-east of Lhasa, built during the time of King Trisong Detsen The name means "inconceivable." Samye Chimpu - bsam yas mchims phu, name of a group of hermitages situated on the mountainside above Samye Monastery, where many great Buddhist masters have attained accomplishment Sangha - dge 'dun In its broad meaning it refers to all the practitioners of the Buddha's teaching It can have a more restricted meaning according to the context, referring to ordained monks, Arhats, Bodhisattvas, etc Sankara - bde byed, example of a man whose strong desire and hatred led him to kill his mother He repented and, having purified his negative actions, was reborn in a god realm Santarak~ita - zhi ba mtsho, also called the Bodhisattva Abbot This great Indian paQ4ita of the Mahayana school was abbot of the Buddhist university of Nalanda and author of a number of philosophical commentaries, such as the Ornament of the Middle Way (dbu ma rgyan, Skt Madhyamakalmkara-karika) He was invited to Tibet by King Trisong Detsen to consecrate the site of the first Tibetan monastery at Samye and ordained the first Tibetan monks Santideva - zhi ba lha (7th century), the great Indian poet and mahasiddha, who astounded the monks of his monastery of Nalanda with his famous poem on the practice of bodhicitta, the Bodhicaryavatara (spyod 'jug), or The Way of the Bodhisattva Saraha - sa ha, Indian mahasiddha, author of three cycles of dohas Sariputra - sha ri'i bu, one of the two foremost Sravaka disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni SarvanivaraQavi~kambhin - sgrib pa rnam sel, one of the Eight Great Close Sons of Buddha Sakyamuni Sastra - bstan bcos, a commentary on the Buddha's teachings Sattvavajra- sems dpa' rdo rje, a name given to VajrapaQi Savaripa - sha ba ri pa or ri khrod dbang phyug, one of the eighty-four mahasiddhas of India He was a hunter from a hill tribe in Bengal, and along with his two wives became a disciple of Nagarjuna Second Buddha - sangs rgyas gnyis pa, an epithet of Padmasambhava Secret empowerment - gsang dbang The second empowerment, "which purifies the defilements of speech, enables one to meditate on the channels and energies and to recite mantras, and sows the seed for obtaining vajra speech and the sambhogakaya." DICT I Secret Mantrayana- gsang ngags kyi theg pa, a branch of the Great Vehicle 431 ... bile Pitaka- see Tripitaka Pitaka, (fourth) - sde snod bzhi pa, the pitaka of the Secret Mantrayiina Pith-instructions - man ngag, Skt upadesa, instructions explaining the most profound points of. .. (Geshe)- po to ba (1031-1105), one of the Three Brothers, the three foremost disciples of Drom Tonpa (the founder of the Kadampa school) Priitimok~a - so sor thar pa, lit individual liberation The. .. Avalokitdvara and Vajrapa.,i The three families are respectively those of the body, speech and mind of the Buddha Puchungwa, (Geshe) - phu chung ba, one of the Three Brothers Piir.,akisyapa- 'od srung