The four dhyānas, the four formless absorptions, and the absorption of cessation.

Teacher (sometimes more specifically the deputy or substitute of the upādhyāya).

The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (moha). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.

Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.

Five collections of similar dharmas, under which all compounded dharmas may be included; form, feeling, notions, factors, and consciousness.

“Kauṇḍinya Who Understood.” Name of the first monk that the Buddha Śākyamuni recognized as having understood his teachings.

A divine girl.

According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (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.

The first level of noble ones when practicing the path of the hearers.

Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era, only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam) clan.

Epithet of the buddhas, meaning “one who has fortune” (explained as having six features); or “one who has vanquished (Māra).”

Name of a bodhisattva, “Medicine-Risen Up.”

Name of a bodhisattva, “King of Medicine.”

In the general Mahāyāna teachings the mind of awakening (bodhicitta) is the intention to attain the complete awakening of a perfect buddha for the sake of all beings. On the level of absolute truth, the mind of awakening is the realization of the awakened state itself.

Someone who practices according to the Vehicle of the Bodhisattvas; one who aims for complete buddhahood; “awakening hero;” “one who has a wish for awakening;” “one who awakens sentient beings.”

A high-ranking deity who presides 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).

The field of activity of a specific buddha.

Name of a bodhisattva, “Intellect-Splendor.” However, the Tibetan suggests “Buddha-” rather than “Buddhi-,” which would then mean “Buddha-Splendor.”

Name of a mountain range in Buddhist cosmology.

A non-Buddhist wanderer, often grouped with the Parivrājakas.

The tenth and highest of the levels in the bodhisattva path.

Name of a bodhisattva, “Wealth-Splendor.”

Among many of its meanings, this term can refer to: the teachings of the Buddha; positive actions that accord with those teachings; or a minimal element of existence, which bears certain features through which it may be cognized.

When a buddha gives his first teaching he “sets in motion the Wheel of Dharma,” just like a monarch with exceptional merit sets in motion a magical wheel that easily subdues all his enemies.

“The sphere of dharmas,” “the base of dharmas,” “the ore of dharmas”‍—a synonym for the nature of things.

One of the subdivisions in the collection of dharmas that constitutes a buddha, variously explained but usually more closely related to the aspect of ultimate truth.

The real nature, true quality, or condition of things. Throughout Buddhist discourse this term is used in two distinct ways. In one, it designates the relative nature that is either the essential characteristic of a specific phenomenon, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, or the defining feature of a specific term or category. The other very important and widespread way it is used is to designate the ultimate nature of all phenomena, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms and is often synonymous with emptiness or the absence of intrinsic existence.

A very high level of samādhi obtained during the last stages of the Buddhist path.

The eight right modes are right view, right thought, right speech, right actions, right livelihood, right effort, right recollection, and right samādhi.

The eight wrong modes are wrong view, wrong thought, wrong speech, wrong actions, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong recollection, and wrong samādhi.

Eighteen collections of similar dharmas, under which all compounded and uncompounded dharmas may be included: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, plus their objects: visible forms, sounds, smells, flavors, touchables, and dharmas, plus the consciousnesses corresponding to each of the first six.

These can be listed as twelve or as six entrances (sometimes also called sense sources, 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, and (11–12) mind and mental phenomena. (These are subsumed in the eighteen bases or elements, where to the twelve sense sources, the six consciousnesses are added.)

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.

Faith, diligence, recollection, samādhi, and wisdom (śraddhā, vīrya, smṛti, samādhi, and prajñā).

Longing for desires (kāmacchanda), malice (vyāpāda), sloth and torpor (styānamiddha), excitement and remorse (auddhatya­kaukṛtya), and doubt (vicikitsā).

Taking what is impure as pure; what is impermanent as permanent; what is suffering as happiness; and what is nonself as a self.

Mindfulness of the body, feelings, the mind, and dharmas.

A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”

In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.

The same as the Bodhisattva Vehicle, whose practitioners aim at complete buddhahood.

Someone who practices according to the Vehicle of the Hearers (those who hear the teachings from others); or, someone who heard the Dharma from the Buddha.

See “five hindrances.”

A stage in the bodhisattva path where the practitioner will never turn back.

A river whose gold is believed to be especially good.

The continent (dvīpa) on which we live which, according to ancient South-Asian cosmology, is shaped like a jambū fruit (probably Syzygium cumini, the jambolan, Malabar plum, or Java plum; or possibly S. amarangense, the Java apple, rose-apple, or wax jambu).

Intention or what follows an intention. Intention is mental karma; what follows an intention is verbal and bodily karma.

A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “is that human?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

See “seven limbs of awakening.”

Name of a mountain range in Buddhist cosmology.

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. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.

The personification of negativity. In the Sanskrit tradition, four Māras are usually listed: the aggregates, the afflictions, the god Māra (the god of infatuation), and death.