GLOSSARY Garab Dorje - dga• rab rdo rje, better known by his Tibetan name than by his Sanskrit names, Pramudavajra, Prahevajra, Surativajra or Prajiiabhava The first human teacher in the lineage of the Great Perfection Garu4a - khyung, a mythical bird of very large size which is able to fly as soon as it is hatched, symbolizing primal wisdom The five colours in which it is sometimes represented symbolize the five wisdoms It is the enemy of the nagas, and is depicted with a snake in its beak, symbolising consuming the negative emotions Gelugpa - dge lugs pa, one of the schools of the New Tradition, founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) and atfirst called the Gandenpa after his seat, the monastery of Ganden Generation phase - bskyed rim, Skt utpattikrama"meditation yoga through which one purifies oneself of one's habitual clingings to the four kinds of birth and in which one meditates on forms, sounds and thoughts as having the nature of deities, mantras and wisdom." DICT Generosity - sbyin pa, Skt dana, lit giving Geshe - dge bshes, spiritual friend The usual term for a Kadampa teacher Later it came to be used for a doctor in philosophy in the Gelugpa school Ghost- 'dre, spirit of a dead person or, more generally, harmful spirit Glorious Copper-coloure d Mountain - zangs mdog dpal ri, a Buddhafield manifested by Padmasambhav a, to which he departed when he left Tibet and where he is now still said to be Gods -lha, the beings of one of the six realms, dominated by pride To avoid confusion we have translated lha as "deity" when it means a Buddha or wisdom deity Gods and demons -lha 'dre, refers in general to all the different classes of spirits, whether helpful (lha) or harmful ('dre) Gods without perception- 'du shes med pa'i lha, gods in the Formless World Good Kalpa - bskal pa bzang po, Skt bhadrakalpa, the present kalpa, called good because it is a kalpa in which one thousand Buddhas appear Gotsangpa (Gonpo Dorje)- rgod tshang pa mgon po rdo rje (1189-1258), Kagyupa master, disciple of Tsangpa Gyare, founder of a branch of the Drukpa Kagyu school and of many monasteries Great Compassionate One - thugs rje chen po, epithet of Avalokitdvara Great Exuberant Lakes - rol pa'i mtsho chen, "seven lakes encircling Mount Meru, in which the naga kings live and play." DICT Great Omniscient One - kun mkhyen chen po, the tide by which Longchenpa is frequently known Great Outer Oceans - phyi'i rgya mtsho chen po, the great oceans which 417 GLOSSARY surround Mount Meru and the four continents in the ancient Indian cosmology Great Perfection - dzogs pa chen po, other name of Atiyoga, the summit of the nine vehicles Perfection means that the mind, in its nature, naturally contains all the qualities of the three bodies: its nature is emptiness, the dharmakaya; its natural expression is clarity, the samboghakaya, and its compassion is all-encompassing, the nirmar;takaya Great means that this perfection is the natural condition of all things AT: great completeness The teachings of the Great Perfection are classified in three sections: the mind section (sems sde), the space section (klong sde), and the pith-instruction section (man ngag gi sde) See also Introduction Great Vehicle - theg pa chen po, Skt mahayana, vehicle of the Bodhisattvas, great because it aims at full Buddhahood for the sake of all beings Ground-of-all- kun gzhi, Skt alaya, abridged form of kun gzhi rnam par shes pa, the ground consciousness in which the habitual tendencies are stored It is the basis for the other consciousnesses Occasionally, in certain teachings, kun gzhi is used for the original nature, the primordial purity (ka dag) Guru Rinpoche - gu ru rin po che, the name by which Padmasambhava is most commonly known in Tibet Guru yoga - bla ma'i rna/ 'byor, practice of mixing one's mind with the teacher's mind Gyalse Rinpoche - rgyal sras rin po che, lit the Precious Son of the Conquerors A title given to Thogme Zangpo (1295-1369), a great master of the Nyingma and Sakya traditions and author of the Thirty Seven Elements of a Bodhisattva's Practice (rgyal sras lag len) Gyelgong - rgyal 'gong, a class of malignant spirits Habitual tendencies - bag chags, Skt vasana, habitual patterns of thought, speech or action created by what one has done in past lives AT: habits, inclinations, impregnations Hearing lineage of ordinary beings - gang zag snyan brgyud, lineage of transmission in which it is necessary for the teacher to use words and the disciple to hear them, rather than transmitting the teachings mind-tomind or using symbols Hell- dmyal ba, Skt naraka, one of the six realms, in which one experiences intense suffering In the hell realm one generally experiences the effects of actions rather than creating new causes He Who Proclaims the Dharma with Inexhaustible Melodious Voice- sgra dbyangs mi zad pa sgrogs pa, name of a Buddha Hundred Families -rigs brgya, the forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities 418 GLOSSARY Hundred Syllables - yig brgya, the mantra of Vajrasattva, representing the essence of the Hundred Families Illustrative wisdom - dpe'i ye shes, wisdom attained through spiritual practice which serves as a pointer to introduce true primal wisdom Impervious practitioner- chos dred, lit Dharma bear "Someone who has not been tamed by the Dharma, who knows the Dharma but does not practise it, so that his mind has become stiff " DICT Someone who only has an intellectual understanding, without any real experience, but considers that he or she knows all about the Dharma Indra - brgya byin, king of the god realm of the Thirty-three Infinite Aspiration - mos pa mtha yas, a future Buddha, the last of the thousand Buddhas who will appear in this present Good Kalpa Innate (wisdom, joy, etc.) -/han skyes, Skt sahaja, lit born together, meaning that wisdom, joy, and nirva1;1a in general are latently present even as we experience ignorance, suffering and sarilsara The two aspects of one and the same nature are "born together", but perceived as opposites by unenlightened minds Inseparable Universe - mi 'byed 'jig rten, our world, the field of activity of Sakyamuni Intermediate state - bar do, Skt antarabhava, term used for the various stages of experience between death and the next rebirth, with a wider interpretation that includes the various states of consciousness in life Four intermediate states are distinguished: 1) the natural intermediate state of this life (rang bzhin skyes gnas bar do), 2) the intermediate state of the moment of death ('chi kha'i bar do), 3) the intermediate state of absolute reality (chos nyid bar do), and 4) the intermediate state of becoming (srid pa'i bar do); or, to make six intermediate states, two more particular states, within the first, can be added: 5) the intermediate state of dream (rmi lam bar do) and 6) the intermediate state of meditative concentration (bsam gtan bar do) Intermediate state of absolute reality - chos nyid bar do, intermediate state during which absolute reality manifests as pure forms of peaceful or wrathful aspect, according to one's own individual tendencies Intermediate state of becoming - srid pa'i bar do, the intermediate state during which the force of karma propels one towards one's next rebirth in sarilsara AT: intermediate state of possibilities, intermediate state of existence Jambudvipa- 'dzam bugling, the southern continent, one of the four main "continents" in ancient Indian cosmology, the one in which we live In some contexts this name refers to South Asia, and in others to the world in a general sense 419" GLOSSARY Jamgon Kongtrul (the Great), Lodro Thaye - 'jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas (1813-1899) was a greatteacher of the non-sectarian movement and was responsible, with Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, for compiling several great collections of teachings and practices from all traditions, including the Treasury of Rediscovered Teachings (rin chen gter mdzod) Jetson Mila- rje brtsun mi Ia (1040-1123), Tibet's great yogi and poet, whose biography and spiritual songs are among the best loved works in Tibetan Buddhism One of the foremost disciples of Marpa, he is among the great masters at the origin of the Kagyupa school Jigme Lingpa - 'jigs med gling pa (1729-1798), see the introduction of this book He is considered to be a combined emanation ofVimalamitra, King Trisong Detsen and Gyalse Lharje Patrol Rinpoche is often considered to be the emanation of Jigme Lingpa's speech Jowo - jo bo, lit lord A title often used by Tibetans for the Indian pa1.1