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.
The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, where fortunate beings are reborn to make further progress toward spiritual maturity. Amitābha made his great vows to create such a realm when he was a bodhisattva called Dharmākara. In the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, popular in East Asia, aspiring to be reborn in his buddha realm is the main emphasis; in other Mahāyāna traditions, too, it is a widespread practice. For a detailed description of the realm, see The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī, Toh 115. In some tantras that make reference to the five families he is the tathāgata associated with the lotus family.
Amitābha, “Infinite Light,” is also known in many Indian Buddhist works as Amitāyus, “Infinite Life.” In both East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions he is often conflated with another buddha named “Infinite Life,” Aparimitāyus, or “Infinite Life and Wisdom,”Aparimitāyurjñāna, the shorter version of whose name has also been back-translated from Tibetan into Sanskrit as Amitāyus but who presides over a realm in the zenith. For details on the relation between these buddhas and their names, see The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) Toh 674, i.9.
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.
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 term used to refer to gods in the Brahma Realm.
A Tibetan translator active in the eleventh century.
Gods living in the Brahma Realm.
A term used to refer to gods in the Great Brahma Realm.
One of the heavens of Buddhist cosmology, lowest among the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu, ’dod khams). Dwelling place of the Four Great Kings (caturmahārāja, rgyal chen bzhi), traditionally located on a terrace of Sumeru, just below the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Each cardinal direction is ruled by one of the Four Great Kings and inhabited by a different class of nonhuman beings as their subjects: in the east, Dhṛtarāṣṭra rules the gandharvas; in the south, Virūḍhaka rules the kumbhāṇḍas; in the west, Virūpākṣa rules the nāgas; and in the north, Vaiśravaṇa rules the yakṣas.
The second heaven of the desire realm located above Mount Meru and reigned over by Śakra/Indra and thirty-two other gods.
1847-1914. A master of the Sakya tradition.
The ruling caste in the traditional four-caste hierarchy of India, associated with warriors, the aristocracy, and kings.
Literally a “disk” or “circle,” in the ritual context maṇḍala is a sacred space on the ground or a raised platform, arranged according to a pattern that varies from rite to rite.
1846–1912. A famous polymath of the Nyingma (rnying ma) tradition.
“Lotus Lord;” an epithet of Avalokiteśvara.
The Indian preceptor who translated this sūtra in the eleventh century.
“The Lion’s Roar,” the name of a form of Avalokiteśvara.
Sukhāvatī (Blissful) is the buddhafield to the west inhabited by the buddha Amitābha, who is also known as Amitāyus. It is classically described in The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (Sukhāvatīvyūha).
Honey, molasses, and ghee.
The spot on which the Buddha Śākyamuni attained Buddhahood. Also, Vajrāsana refers to the Bodhgayā area.
A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.
Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.
seng ge sgra’i rgyud ces bya ba (Siṃhanādatantra). Toh 702, Degé Kangyur vol. 93 (rgyud, rtsa), folios 163.b–164.b.
seng ge’i sgra’i sgrub thabs (Siṃhanādasādhana). Toh. 3560, Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud ’grel, mu), folios 262.a–262.b.
seng ge’i sgra’i sgrub thabs (Siṃhanādasādhana). Toh 3414, Degé Tengyur vol. 77 (rgyud ’grel, mu), folios 81.a–81.b.
seng ge sgra’i rgyud ces bya ba. 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. 93, pp. 478–482.
seng ge sgra’i rgyud ces bya ba. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 107 (rgyud, ma), folios 36.b–38.a.
seng ge sgra’i rgyud ces bya ba. Phukdrak Kangyur vol. 114 (rgyud, ma), folios 88.a–89.b.
Siṃhanādadhāraṇī. In Sādhanamālā, vol. 1, edited by Benoytosh Bhattacharyya, 52. Baroda: Central Library, 1925.
Advayavajra. Siṃhanādasādhana. In Sādhanamālā, vol. 1, edited by Benoytosh Bhattacharyya, 47–8. Baroda: Central Library, 1925.
mi pham rgya mtsho. seng ge sgra’i gzungs kyi lo rgyus. In gsung ’bum / mi pham rgya mtsho, vol 25 (ra), folios 51.a–51.b. Chengdu: gangs can rig gzhung dpe rnying myur skyobs lhan tshogs, 2007.
sgrub thabs kun btus [Compendium of Sādhanas]. Reproduced from the sde dge xylograph edition 1902. Dehra Dun: G.T.K. Lodoy, N. Gyaltsen, N. Lungtok, 1970. [BDRC W23681].
Mori, Masahide. “The Vajrāvālī of Abhayākaragupta: a Critical Study, Sanskrit Edition of Selected Chapters and Complete Tibetan Version.” PhD diss., SOAS 1997.
84000. The Dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara Siṃhanāda (Āvalokiteśvarasiṃhanādadhāraṇī, spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug seng ge sgra’i gzungs, Toh 703). Translated by Catherine Dalton. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Holt, John C. Buddha in the Crown: Avalokiteśvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Losty, J. P. “The Mahābodhi Temple Before its Restoration.” In Precious Treasures from the Diamond Throne: Finds from the Site of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, edited by Sam van Schaik, Daniela De Simone, Gergely Hidas, and Michael Willis, 8–28. London: The British Museum, 2021.