Feeling remorse for past negative actions.
Carrying out virtuous actions as an antidote to past negative deeds.
The second heaven of the desire realm located above Mount Meru.
The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in the heaven of Tuṣita, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. Maitreya literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita, meaning “Invincible.”
For more information on Maitreya, see, for example, the introduction to Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198).
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.
Pledging not to repeat past negative actions.
Calling upon the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha and vowing not to forsake the mind of awakening as a support in avoiding negative actions.
The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.
An assembly hall located in the southwest of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.
An Indian paṇḍiṭa resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.
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.
’phags pa chos bzhi bstan pa zhes bya theg pa chen po’i mdo (Caturdharmanirdeśasūtra). Toh 249, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 59a–59b.
’phags pa chos bzhi bstan pa zhes bya 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 Tripiṭaka 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. 66, pp. 163–5.
Bhāviveka. dbu ma’i snying po’i ’grel pa rtog ge ’bar ba (Madhyamakahṛdayatarkajvālā). Toh 3856. Degé Tengyur vol. 98 (dbu ma, dza), folios 40b–329b.
Gampopa Sönam Rinchen (sgam po pa bsod nams rin chen). dam chos yid bzhin gyi nor bu thar pa rin po che’i rgyan. In bstan rim gces btus (Institute of Tibetan Classics vol. 10). Delhi: bod kyi gtsug lag zhib ’jug khang, 2009, pp. 45–243.
Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen (blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan). stobs bzhi’i bshags bsdoms bya tshul. In blo bzang chos kyi rgyi mtshan dpal bzang po’i gsung ’bum, 5 volumes, bkra shis lhun po’i par khang. 199? vol. 4, pp. 527–32. (Cf. vol. 5, pp. 293–6).
Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen (blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan). stobs bzhi tshang ba sangs rgyas so lnga’i bya tshul. In blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po’i gsung ’bum, 5 volumes, bkra shis lhun po’i par khang. 199? vol. 5, 286–9.
Nāgārjuna. byang chub kyi ltung ba bshags pa’i ’grel pa (Bodhyāpattideśanāvṛtti). Toh 4005. Degé Tengyur vol. 116 (mdo ’grel, ji), folios 178a–187b.
Śāntideva. bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya). Toh 3940. Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3a–194b.
Tsongkhapa Losang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa). skyes bu gsum gyi nyams su blang ba’i rim pa thams cad tshang bar ston pa’i byang chub lam gyi rim pa in rje tsong kha pa’i gsung ’bum. 18 volumes. Dharamsala: Sherig Parkhang, 1997, vol. 13, folios 1–521.
Skilling, Peter. Questioning the Buddha: A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras. Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2021.
Bendall, Cecil and W.H.D. Rouse. ŚikshāSamuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhist Doctrine Compiled by Śāntideva. London: John Murray, 1922.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2020).The Fourfold Accomplishment (Catuṣkanirhāra, Toh 252). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2024). The Accomplishment of the Sets of Four Qualities: The Bodhisattvas’ Prātimokṣa (Bodhisattvaprātimokṣacatuṣkanirhāra, Toh 248). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Feer, Henri Léon. “Le Sūtra des Quatre Préceptes.” Journal Asiatique, sér. 6, tome 8 (1866): 269–357.
Gampopa. The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: The Wish-fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings. Translated by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1998.
Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva: A Translation of the Śikṣā-samuccaya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Ngawang Pelzang. A Guide to The Words of My Perfect Teacher. Translated by Padmakara Translation Group. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2004.
Patrul Rinpoche. The Words of My Perfect Teacher. Translated by Padmakara Translation Group. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1998.
Pearcey, Adam, trans. (2023a). The Four Factors (Caturdharmakasūtra, Toh 250). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Pearcey, Adam, trans. (2023b). The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Four Factors (Āryacaturdharmakanāmamahāyānasūtra, Toh 251). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Pruden, Leo M. Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam by Louis de la Vallée Poussin.English Translation. 4 vols. Berkeley, California: Asian Humanities Press, 1988.
Samten, Ngawang and Janarden Pandey (ed.). “Āryacaturdharmanirdeśasūtram.” Dhīḥ: Journal of Rare Buddhist Texts Research Unit, 35 (2003): 45–52.
Tseng, Vinita. A unique collection of twenty Sūtras in a Sanskrit manuscript from the Potala. Volume I.1. Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2010.
Tsong-kha-pa. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. vol. 1. Translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.
Wangchuk, Dorji. The Resolve to Become a Buddha: A Study of the Bodhicitta Concept in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2007.