Any act or deed done with body, speech, or mind. Also translated here as “the potential of their past actions.” 

The son of Bimbisāra, ruler of Magadha at the time of the Buddha, who committed patricide, usurped his father’s throne, and conspired with Devadatta to take over the saṅgha. He later repented and became a lay disciple of the Buddha.

One of the three lower realms of existence (Skt. durgati, apāya). Unlike the Western biological classification of life (in which humans belong to the animal kingdom), Buddhism in ancient Asia has developed its own unique taxonomic system that divides all forms of sentient life (plants are mostly excluded from sentient life in the South Asian and Tibetan Buddhist taxonomies) into six (sometimes five) realms or rebirth destinies (Skt. gati): gods (Skt. deva), demigods (Skt. asura), humans (Skt. manuṣya), animals (Skt. tiryak), hell (Skt. naraka), and ghosts (Skt. preta).

There are four kinds of noble persons (Skt. āryapudgala) according to the Śrāvakayāna path, characterized by a gradual abandonment of ten kinds of fetters (Skt. saṃyojana) that bind one to saṃsāra. This is the fourth and final of the four (or eight) stages of the realization of the supermundane path (and fruit), equivalent with awakening or liberation.

A general term applied to spiritual practitioners who live as ascetic mendicants. In Buddhist texts, the term usually refers to Buddhist monastics, but it can also designate a practitioner from other ascetic/monastic spiritual traditions. In this context śramaṇa is often contrasted with the term brāhmaṇa (bram ze), which refers broadly to followers of the Vedic tradition. Any renunciate, not just a Buddhist, could be referred to as a śramaṇa if they were not within the Vedic fold. The epithet Great Śramaṇa is often applied to the Buddha.

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).

See also “animal.”

Lacking knowledge of or being ignorant [of the Dharma]. J. S. Negi (Negi 935, s.v. ngan pa) cites a few instances where Tibetan ngan pa represents the Sanskrit semantic field “lack of understanding,” e.g., Bodhi­caryāvatāra (Tib. ngan pa; Skt. ajñaḥ “not knowing,” “devoid of knowledge,” “stupid,” “foolish,” etc.); Jātakamālā (Tib. ngan pa; Skt. jaḍā matiḥ “dull,” “stupid,” “irrational”); Avadāna­kalpalatā (Tib. ngan pa; Skt. mūrkhāḥ “stupid, dull-headed; a fool”). Context suggests that this is one sense of ngan pa in Transformation of Karma when it talks about the Dharma and knowledge thereof. Also translated here as “bad deed.”

See also n.43.

Four (supernatural) qualities or powers of the mind that help to gain the fruit of the path: aspiration, effort, concentration, and analysis. In contrast to what the name suggests, the actual supernatural powers‍—like the ability to walk on water, dive into the earth, pass through solid objects, flying, etc.‍— are usually considered byproducts and even distractions from attaining the fruit of the path: liberation.

A common epithet of the historical Buddha. The Sanskrit word bhaga means, among other factors, good fortune, happiness, prosperity, and excellence. The suffix -vat indicates possession. A common English translation is thus “the Blessed One” or “the Fortunate One.” The three syllables of the Tibetan translation mean that the Buddha has “overcome, conquered” (Tib. bcom), is “endowed with (qualities)” (Tib. ldan), and has “gone beyond (saṃsāra)” (Tib. ’das).

This renders the vocative Tibetan ma na ba, which is an approximate phonetic rendition of Sanskrit māṇava “lad, boy, youth; young brahmin” (cf. Apte, s.v. māṇava). When not in the vocative in direct speech, we have translated it as “brahmin youth.”

A Buddhist monument and reliquary holding the relics of a buddha or some highly revered Buddhist master, representing the enlightened mind of a buddha. See “caitya.”

The literal translation of Tibetan mi ’jigs pa (Skt. vaiśāradya) is “fearlessness.” Usually four kinds of confidence or fearlessness are enumerated when describing a buddha: a fully enlightened buddha is confident of having (1) attained complete, perfect enlightenment regarding all phenomena, (2) eliminated all contaminants, (3) correctly declared all obstacles to enlightenment, and (4) shown the path that actually leads to the liberation from obstacles and suffering. This sūtra, on the other hand, talks about confidence regarding the daily routines of monks and nuns and their deportment. They have confidence in their ability to faultlessly adhere to the monastic discipline in all situations because it provides a sense of protection.

Term for a deva belonging to the realm of form, which is the second of the three realms of existence according to Buddhist cosmology, rebirth in which is achieved through mastering meditative techniques known as the four dhyānas or meditative absorptions; this realm has seventeen subdivisions. The beings reborn here possess ethereal physical bodies and experience only three senses: sight, hearing, and touch. Attachment to material objects is in general less than in the desire realm (Skt. kāmadhātu).

A deva or god in the formless realm.

In the most general sense the devas‍—the term is cognate with the English divine‍—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

Here in Transformation of Karma Tibetan nyon mongs pa is an old Tibetan expression for sdug bsngal ba (see Rnam rgyal tshe ring 2001, s.v. nyon mongs pa) and is used in the senses of to afflict, distress, to cause someone (mental) pain or suffering; distressing; (living in) distress (n.).

The fifth of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

One of the eleven virtuous mental factors (Tib. sems byung dge ba; Skt. kuśalacaitta), a subgroup of the mental states or factors associated with the mind (Skt. caitasika, caitta), according to the Abhidharma. According to Vasubandhu (in his Pañcaskandhaka), khrel (“embarrassment” or “shame”) is different from ngo tsha (“scruples,” “conscience”) in that it is independent from others’ judgment of one’s behavior, and solely internal, in that it contradicts one’s internalized values. See “guilty conscience.”

Sanskrit ānantarya is a short for pañcā­nantaryāṇi karmāṇi. These are five grave sins which, when committed, lead one to fall immediately, i.e., with no intermediate period, into the Avīci hell after death due to their severity. Usually five are enumerated: killing one’s mother, father, or an arhat; causing dissension in the order of monks (the saṅgha); and deliberately causing a tathāgata’s blood to flow. But the exact number of items varies in different lists from two or three to five (cf. BHSD, s.v. ānantarya).

In Buddhist philosophy, the five basic constituents upon which persons are conventionally designated. They are material forms, sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness.

Love, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; also often called the four immeasurables.

This translates Sanskrit ārūpya­samāpatti (“attainment of formless absorptions”) or ārūpyāvacara­dhyāna in Transformation of Karma, which in Tibetan is usually translated as gzugs med pa’i snyoms par ’jug pa. The four states of imperturbability are (1) the sphere of infinite space; (2) the sphere of infinite consciousness; (3) the sphere of nothingness (literally, “the sphere in which there is not the slightest bit of anything present”); and (4) the sphere of neither mind nor no-mind. See also “meditative absorption.”

The family name of the historical Buddha Śākyamuni.

Literally “those who have gone to the afterlife.” A synonym or interlinear gloss for preta; ghost in Transformation of Karma. Pretas are a class of sentient beings belonging to the “bad” or “unfortunate rebirth destinies” (Skt. apāya); see “animal.” In the commentary to the Petavatthu (the seventh book of the Khuddakanikāya of the Pāli Canon), the former term is explained as “having gone to the beyond or the afterlife” (Pāli paralokagata), which is effectively the same as Sanskrit preta and Pāli peta; departed, dead. The meaning of durāgata or dūraṃgama (“far-going,” “going here and there”) may refer to the belief that the ghosts of the deceased are able to move freely and quickly through space because they do not have physical bodies, and that the realm of the ghosts does not, in fact, exist in a fixed location but is everywhere. As the stories of the Petavatthu illustrate, the worlds of ghosts and humans often intertwine.

Part of the Tibetan translation of a Skt. stock phrase for the expression of esteem. See “renown,” “good reputation.”

Part of the Tibetan translation of a Skt. stock phrase for the expression of esteem. See glory, renown.

The eighth of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

One of the eleven virtuous mental factors (Tib. sems byung dge ba; Skt. kuśalacaitta), a subgroup of the mental states or factors associated with the mind (Skt. caitasika; caitta), according to the Abhidharma. According to Vasubandhu (in his Pañcaskandhaka), ngo tsha (“scruples,” “conscience”) is different from khrel (“embarrassment” or “shame”) in that it is independent from others’ judgment of one’s behavior, and solely internal, in that it contradicts one’s internalized values and one’s inner moral compass. See “embarrassment.”

The hell realm(s); Transformation of Karma does not differentiate, or at least does not itemize, the different Buddhist hells.

One of the six rebirth states; see “animal”.

In early Buddhism, a teacher who teaches the Dharma and Vinaya to novices and new monks, and who can replace the preceptor (Skt. upādhyāya), if one loses one’s preceptor.

A transitional, discarnate state of a sentient being between death and rebirth, classically said to last up 49 days; its existence was and is not accepted by all Buddhist schools (not, e.g., by the Theravādins).

A bird said to have a song sweeter than any other. Sometimes said to refer to the avadavat, sometimes to the Indian Cuckoo, but used as a simile it is a reference that is partly mythical; the kalaviṅka is said to sing sublimely even before being hatched.

Literally meaning the “fruit” of action(s), karmic result denotes rebirth and karmic punishment and reward as a consequence of, and in accordance with the moral character of, one’s actions.

The complex process of the ripening of karma, i.e., the development of the karmic result (las kyi ’bras bu) of karmically relevant actions committed with body, speech, and mind by virtue of the power of the action as cause and supporting condition.

The first of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

See entry “knowledge” and also n.56.

Here, the third of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

See n.213.

The fourth of the ten nonvirtuous actions.

Pre-reform Tibetan term for lha’i mig (“divine eye,” “clairvoyance”) one of the six supramundane powers (Skt. abhijñā) and of the three knowledges (Skt. trividyā): the ability to see things that are far away, mind-made bodies (of enlightened beings and advanced meditators), and the destinies of all beings according to their actions.

Designates both the mental state of deep concentration and the meditative practices leading to it. These states are characterized by a gradual withdrawal of consciousness from external sense data. Two broad distinctions are made: rūpāvacara­dhyāna or the meditative absorption associated with the form realm, and ārūpyāvacara­dhyāna or the meditative absorption associated with the formless or immaterial realm. Each of the two dhyānas is subdivided into four stages. See also “four states of imperturbability.”