A general term that could either refer to the realm of Bramā gods (brahmaloka) as a whole or one of the abodes within it.
One of the six abodes of the desire gods.
First of six levels of gods in the desire realm.
Second of six levels of gods in the desire realm.
In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.
In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.
One of the five pure abodes.
The eighth and highest level of the realm of form (rūpadhātu); it is only accessible as the result of specific states of concentration. According to some texts this is where non-returners (anāgāmin) dwell in their last lives. In other texts it is the realm of the enjoyment body (saṃbhogakāya) and is a buddhafield associated with the Buddha Vairocana that is accessible only to bodhisattvas on the tenth level.
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva.
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 bodhisattva.
A nāga king whose domain is Lake Anavatapta. According to Buddhist cosmology, this lake is located near Mount Sumeru and is the source of the four great rivers of Jambudvīpa. It is often identified with Lake Manasarovar at the foot of Mount Kailash in Tibet.
A monk (bhikṣu) and disciple of the Buddha.
One who has achieved the fourth and final level of attainment on the śrāvaka path and who has attained liberation with the cessation of all mental defilements.
An absorption.
An absorption.
The Samantabhadracaryāpraṇidhāna appears in the final part of the Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra, which itself forms part of the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra. It is well-known in Tibet, where it has been the subject of numerous commentaries. It continues to be recited daily in some monastic traditions in Tibet and China. The work also goes under the Sanskrit titles Bhadracari(-ī), and Bhadracaryāpraṇidhāna. See Skilling and Saerji 2013, 198 n. 30.
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).
An absorption.
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva is a great being (mahāsattva), having the intention to achieve complete awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Third of three heavens of gods on the fourth concentration level.
An absorption.
God who presides of the realm of Brahmā (brahmaloka) associated with the first concentration level in the realm of forms. In the Buddhist Avataṃsaka cosmology of innumerable (asaṃkhyeya) interpenetrating buddha realms, there are myriad Brahmās, each presiding over its own world-system.
The name of an abode and class of gods inhabiting the first concentration level in the realm of forms (rūpadhātu). It is also called the abode of Brahmā’s High Priests (Brahmapurohita), although the two are listed distinctly in this text.
The name of an abode and class of gods inhabiting the first concentration level in the realm of forms (rūpadhātu). It is also called the abode of Brahmā’s Entourage (Brahmapariṣadya), although the two are listed distinctly in this text.
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva.
Presented as a single, long sūtra, many of its 45 chapters are independent works. See table of contents of Toh 44.
God personifying the ring of mountains surrounding the ocean that encompasses the four continents; the horizontal edge of the world in traditional Buddhist cosmology.
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva.
A religious mendicant; in Buddhist texts this is often paired with parivrājaka in stock lists of followers of non-Buddhist ascetic traditions.
An absorption.
A class of celestial singers and dancers in Indian mythology who inhabit the heaven of the god Śakra, lord of the heavens.
An absorption.
A monk (bhikṣu) and disciple of the Buddha.
One of the terms for meditation, referring specifically to states of mental stability or one-pointed focus in an undistracted state of mind free from mental obscurations. Dhyāna can also refer to the specific states of meditative fixation of the form and formless realms (eight in total). It is also the fifth of the six perfections of the bodhisattva.
An absorption.
An absorption.
An absorption.
An absorption.
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i yon tan dang ye shes bsam gyis mi khyab pa’i yul la ’jug pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 185, Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo sde), folios 106.a–143.b.
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i yon tan dang ye shes bsam gyis mi khyab pa’i yul la ’jug pa bstan pa zhes bya 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), 2006–2009, vol. 61, pp. 3–270.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/ lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur, vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Asaṅga. theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa (Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā). Toh 4025, Degé Tengyur vol. (sems tsam, phi), folios 74.b–129.a.
blo gros mi zad pas bstan pa (Akṣayamatinirdeśa). Toh 175, Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 79.a–174.b. English translation in Braarvig, Jens, and David Welsh (2020). [Full citation listed in secondary literature]
byang chub sems dpa’i sde snod (Bodhisattvapiṭaka). Toh 56, Degé Kangyur vol. 40 (dkon brtsegs, kha), folios 255.b–294.a and vol. 41 (dkon brtsegs, ga), folios 1.b–205.b. English translation in Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology 2023.
bzang spyod smon lam (Bhadracaryāpraṇidhāna). Toh 1095, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waM), folios 262.b–266.a.
dgongs pa nges par ’grel pa’i mdo (Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra). Toh 106, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–55.b. English translation in Buddhavacana Translation Group (2020). [Full citation listed in secondary literature]
dkon mchog sprin (Ratnamegha). Toh 231, Degé Kangyur vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 1.b–112.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2019). [Full citation listed in secondary literature]
Nāgārjuna. dbu ma rtsa ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā). Toh 3824, Degé Tengyur vol. 96 (dbu ma, tsa), folios 1.b–19.a.
Nāgārjuna. mdo kun las btus pa (Sūtrasamuccaya). Toh 3934, Degé Tengyur vol. 110 (dbu ma, ki) folios 148.b–215.a.
sangs rgyas phal po che (Buddhāvataṃsaka). Toh 44, Degé Kangyur vol. 35 (phal chen, ka) folios 1.b–393.a; vol. 36 (phal chen, kha) folios 1.b–396.a; vol. 37 (phal chen, ga) folios 1.b–396.a, and vol. 38 (phal chen, a) folios 1.b–363.a.
sdong pos brgyan pa’i le’u (Gaṇḍavyūha). Toh 44-45, Degé Kangyur vol. 37 (phal chen, ga), folios 274.b–336.a and vol. 38 (phal chen, a), folios 1.b–363.a. English translation in Roberts (2021). [Full citation listed in secondary literature]
Braarvig, Jens, and David Welsh, trans. The Teaching of Akṣayamati (Akṣayamatinirdeśa, Toh 175). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
Buddhavacana Translation Group (Vienna), trans. Unraveling the Intent (Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra, Toh 106). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Jewel Cloud (Ratnamegha, Toh 231). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Wien: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
E. H. Johnston, ed. The Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottara-tantraśāstra. Patna: Bihar Research Society, 1950.
Karashima, Seishi. Some Folios of the Tathāgataguṇajñānācintyaviṣayāvatāra and Dvādaśadaṇḍakanāmāṣṭaśatavimalīkaraṇā in the Kurita Collection. International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture 27, no. 1 (June 2017): 11–44.
Lancaster, Lewis. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalog. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.
Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology, trans. The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisatva (Toh 56). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Pagel, Ulrich. “The Dhāraṇīs of Mahāvyutpatti #748: Origin and Formation.” Buddhist Studies Review 24, no. 2 (2007): 151–91.
Pāsādika, Bhikkhu. Nāgārjuna’s Sūtrasamuccaya: A Critical Edition of the mDo kun las btus pa. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1989.
Powers, John. Wisdom of Buddha: The Saṁdhinirmocana Sūtra. Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1995.
Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. The Stem Array (Gaṇḍavyūha, Toh 44-45). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Skilling, Peter and Saerji. “The Circulation of the Buddhāvataṃsaka in India.” Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 2012. [=ARIRIAB], vol. XVI, March 2013.
Skilton, Andrew. “State or Statement? ‘Samādhi’ in Some Early Mahāyāna Sūtras.” The Eastern Buddhist 34, no. 2 (2002): 51–93.