A god, king in the Luminous Heaven.
The celestial realm of the Thus-Gone One Akṣobhya in the east.
A synonym for meditation, this refers to the state of deep meditative immersion that results from different modes of Buddhist practice.
According to Edgerton, this is an acceptance “which leads to continued religious progress” (pp. 96–97).
See “five acts of immediate retribution.”
A bodhisattva.
Nāga King Sāgara’s daughter, who in the future will become the Buddha Samantavipaśyin, in the realm of Light.
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.
See “five aggregates.”
A bodhisattva.
King of Magadha, son of the king Bimbisāra. As a prince, he befriended Devadatta, who convinced him to kill his father and take the throne for himself. After his father's death he was tormented with guilt and became a follower of the Buddha. He supported the compilation of the Buddha’s teachings during the First Council in Rājagṛha, and also built a stūpa for the Buddha's relics.
Lit. “Not Disturbed” or “Immovable One.” The buddha in the eastern realm of Abhirati. A well-known buddha in Mahāyāna, regarded in the higher tantras as the head of one of the five buddha families, the vajra family in the east.
A bodhisattva.
The realm of the Buddha Stainless Light.
The realm of the Buddha Samantavipaśyin.
A bodhisattva.
A buddha.
Name of the buddha that Glorious Splendor will become in the world Totally Pure and Stable.
A bodhisattva.
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.
A nāga king.
Four contemplations on (1) the body, (2) feelings, (3) mind, and (4) phenomena. These four contemplations are part of the thirty-seven factors of awakening.
A nāga king.
An optional set of thirteen practices (with some variations among sources) that monastics can adopt in order to cultivate greater detachment. They consist of (1) wearing patched robes made from discarded cloth rather than from cloth donated by laypeople; (2) wearing only three robes; (3) going for alms; (4) not omitting any house while on the alms round, rather than begging only at those houses known to provide good food; (5) eating only what can be eaten in one sitting; (6) eating only food received in the alms bowl, rather than more elaborate meals presented to the Saṅgha; (7) refusing more food after indicating one has eaten enough; (8) dwelling in the forest; (9) dwelling at the foot of a tree; (10) dwelling in the open air, using only a tent made from one’s robes as shelter; (11) dwelling in a charnel ground; (12) being satisfied with whatever dwelling one has; and (13) sleeping in a sitting position without ever lying down.
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
A technical term referring to a meditative state attained through the practice of concentration. Usually a reference to the nine gradual attainments (navānupūrvavihārasamāpatti, mthar gyis gnas pa’i snyoms par ’jug pa dgu) that include the four attainments of the form realm, the four formless attainments, and the attainment of the state of cessation. (The word “attainment” is also used here to translate non-technical words that have the sense of “obtain” or “acquire.”)
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.
The Dharma king that Rāhu is prophesied to become.
Four types of absorption related respectively to intention, diligence, attention, and analysis.
Head of the “sixteen excellent men” (ṣoḍaśasatpuruṣa), a group of householder bodhisattvas present in the audience of many sūtras. He appears prominently in certain sūtras, such as The Samādhi of the Presence of the Buddhas (Pratyutpannabuddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhisūtra, Toh 133) and is perhaps also the merchant of the same name who is the principal interlocutor in The Questions of Bhadrapāla the Merchant (Toh 83).
In Buddhist literature, this is 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”).
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). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two deities (the other being Indra/Śakra) that are said to have first exhorted Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are multiple universes and world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them.
A god.
The heaven of Brahmā, usually located just above the desire realm as one of the first levels of the form realm and equated with the state that one achieves in the first meditative concentration (dhyāna).
Mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, ease, absorption, and equanimity.
A nāga king.
A divine king in the Heaven of Great Fruition.
A bodhisattva.
An epithet of Rāhu.
A buddha.
A bodhisattva.
A buddha
The realm of the Buddha Cloud King.
The realm of the Buddha Nārāyaṇa.
The realm of the Buddha Divine King of Brahmā’s Splendor
Relinquishing negative acts in the present and the future and enhancing positive acts in the present and the future.
See “four correct discriminations.”
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva.
The park in which the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma.
klu’i rgyal po rgya mtshos zhus pa (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā). Toh 153, Degé Kangyur vol. 58 (mdo sde, pha), folios 116.a–198.a.
’phags pa klu’i rgyal po rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bye ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 58, 303–518.
’phags pa klu’i rgyal po rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bye ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, ba), folios 166.a.–282.a.
dri med grags pas bstan pa (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa). Toh 176, Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175.a–239.a. English translation in Thurman (2017).
phung po gsum pa’i mdo (Triskandhakasūtra). Toh 284, Degé Kangyur vol. 68 (mdo sde, ya), folios 57.a–77.a.
pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag [Denkarma]. Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
klu’i rgyal po rgya mtshos zhus pa (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā). Toh 154, Degé Kangyur vol. 58 (mdo sde, pha), folios 198.b–205.a. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2020b).
klu’i rgyal po rgya mtshos zhus pa (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā). Toh 155, Degé Kangyur vol. 58 (mdo sde, pha), folios 205.a–205.b. English translation in Sakya Pandita Translation Group (2011).
Atiśa. dbu ma’i man ngag rin po che’i za ma tog kha phye ba (Ratnakaraṇdodghātanāmamadhyamakopadeśa). Toh 3930, Degé Tengyur vol. 110 (dbu ma, ki), folios 96.b–116.b.
Śāntideva. bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya). Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3.a–194.b.
Apple, James. Jewels of the Middle Way: The Madhyamaka Legacy of Atiśa and His Early Tibetan Followers. Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2019.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2020b). The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara (2) (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā, Toh 154). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, Volume II: Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993.
Gorampa Sönam Sengé (go rams pa bsod nams seng ge). sdom gsum rab dbye’i spyi don yid bzhin nor bu. In gsung ’bum bsod nams seng ge, vol. 9 (ta), 437–603. Degé: rdzong sar khams bye’i slob gling, 2004–14. BDRC W1PD1725.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Paul, Diana, and Frances Wilson. Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahāyāna Tradition. University of California Press, 1979.
Sakya Pandita Translation Group, trans. The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara (3) (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā, Toh 155). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.
Śikṣāsamuccaya. GRETIL edition input by Mirek Rozehnahl, March 17, 2017.
Thurman, Robert A. F., trans. The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Toh 176). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2017.