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”).

The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings‍—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula‍—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.

Five acts said to lead to immediate and unavoidable birth in the hell realms: killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an arhat, sowing discord within the saṅgha, and drawing the blood of a tathāgata with ill intent.

1847-1914. A master of the Sakya tradition.

A name of Avalokiteśvara.

An eleventh-century Tibetan master and translator who is specifically known for his Cakrasaṃvara lineage, which he received from teachers in the Kathmandu Valley.

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.

A Tibetan translator who lived in the eleventh to twelfth century. He translated the collection of sādhanas referred to as “The ‘Hundred’ Sādhanas translated by Patshab” (pa tshab kyis bsgyur ba’i sgrub thabs rgya rtsa), a collection of one hundred and sixty-three sādhanas. He mostly translated these in the presence of the paṇḍita Abhayākaragupta, who was a Bengali scholar and the abbot of Vikramaśīla. Patshab’s collection is included in the Tantra section of the Degé Tengyur.

“The Lion’s Roar,” the name of a form of Avalokiteśvara.

An Indian master active in the eleventh century. This may be a shortened name of Vāgīśvarakīrti, a renowned master of the Cakrasaṃvara who was formerly a gate keeper at Vikramaśīla and spent the latter part of his life in the Kathmandu Valley.