214 G L O S S ARY particular, the Sangha of realized noble arhats alta bodhisattvas is the third of the three rare and supreme ones This Sangha serves as one's guides and companions along the path of Dharma SHRAVAKAYANA "Vehicle of the Hearers." One of two vehicles whose practices are based on the Buddha's teachings in the first turning of the wheel of Dharma Its name is derived from the quality of how intently its followers listen to the Buddha's teach ings The fruition of this vehicle is the attainment of the level of arhat SIDDHA "One who has gained accomplishment." A practitioner who has realized the true nature of reality SOURCES OF CONSCIOUSNESS (ayatanas, Skt.) There are six outer sources of consciousness: forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tac tile sensations, and phenomena, which are the objects perceived by the six inner sources of consciousness: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind THREE RARE AND SUPREME ONES The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, the three objects of refuge in the Buddhist tradition One goes for refuge from the suffering of samsara to the Buddha, the teacher; the Dharma, the teachings to be put into practice; and the Sangha, the community of noble practitioners who have di rectly realized the true nature of reality and who serve as one's guides along the path Also called the three precious jewels THREE REALMS The planes of existence inhabited by the sentient beings in samsara: the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm The latter two are more subtle and are the exclu sive domain of certain gods who have spent a long time cultivat ing specific meditative states of absorption The desire realm is populated by all six classes of sentient beings: beings in the hell realms, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and certain types of gods THREE STAGES OF THE BUDDHA'S TEACHINGS In the stage of no analysis, in order to guide his disciples to perform virtuous actions, avoid nonvirtuous ones, and give rise to the renunciation G L O S S ARY 215 of samsara and longing for nirvana that would cause them to practice the Dharma, the Buddha described past and future lives, karmic cause and result, the suffering of samsara, and the libera tion of nirvana as if they were all real, with no analysis of their true nature In the stage of slight analysis, in order to help his disciples dispel their ignorance of genuine reality that caused them to believe in the true existence of appearances, the Buddha taught that all of the phenomena he described in the first stage not truly exist and that emptiness of true existence is the true nature of reality In the stage of thorough analysis, in order to help his disciples abandon their clinging to nonexistence, the Buddha taught that genuine reality transcends the conceptual fabrications of existence and nonexistence, appearance and emp tiness, and any other notion of what it might be; it is beyond what the intellect can describe or conceive THREE TURNINGS OF THE WHEEL OF DHARMA The three sets of teachings that the Buddha gave In the first turning, the Bud dha taught that samsara is of the nature of suffering and that one can attain nirvana by practicing the Dharma In the second turning, the Buddha taught that everything in samsara and nir vana is of the nature of emptiness In the third turning, the Bud dha taught about the buddha nature, the enlightened essence of luminous clarity that is the true nature of the mind of every sen tient being VAJRAYANA "Adamantine vehicle." The set of Mahayana practices that is kept secret VINAYA The set of teachings the Buddha gave on the subject of prescribed and proscribed conduct for those who hold vows of the various yanas (vehicles) of Buddhism YOGI Literally, "one who arrives at naturalness." A practitioner who has directly realized the true nature of reality, to one degree or another Thus, there are shravaka-yogis, pratyekabuddha yogis, bodhisattva-yogis, and buddha-yogis, the last of these being the greatest yogis of all For more information about Khenpo Tsiiltrim Gyamtso's teachings, contact the Marpa Foundation at www.ktgrinpoche.org ... caused them to believe in the true existence of appearances, the Buddha taught that all of the phenomena he described in the first stage not truly exist and that emptiness of true existence is the. .. DHARMA The three sets of teachings that the Buddha gave In the first turning, the Bud dha taught that samsara is of the nature of suffering and that one can attain nirvana by practicing the Dharma... Dharma In the second turning, the Buddha taught that everything in samsara and nir vana is of the nature of emptiness In the third turning, the Bud dha taught about the buddha nature, the enlightened