The last and worst of the four ages (yuga), the present age of degeneration.

The Brahmanical god of fire; also the deity who governs the southeastern direction.

The name of Indra’s elephant.

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.

The buddha of the western buddhafield of Sukhāvatī, he is also known as Amitābha.

“Unfailing Noose,” a prominent emanation of Avalokiteśvara in esoteric literature. The Amoghapāśakalparāja, a Kriyātantra, is dedicated to his rites.

A vidyā king (vidyārāja) of the vajra clan.

A class of female celestial beings known for their great beauty.

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 afflictions.

A class of nonhuman beings that are engaged in a perpetual war with the gods (deva) for possession of the nectar of immortality. In Buddhist cosmology, they count as one of the six classes of beings and are tormented by their intense jealousy of the gods.

A female asura.

Harsh, often extreme practices that can include deprivation and physical mortification. Such practices are typically rejected in the Buddhist “middle way.” The term can be used in a more positive sense to refer to the hardships of practice one must endure to reach liberation.

A prominent bodhisattva and buddha of the Mahāyāna pantheon, he is considered the embodiment of compassion. In esoteric literature, he presides over the lotus clan (padmakula).

The lowest of all hell realms (Skt. naraka). The worst possible place for rebirth.

A vidyā queen (vidyārājñī).

This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.

In the general Mahāyāna teachings the mind of awakening (bodhicitta) is the intention to attain the complete awakening of a perfect buddha for the sake of all beings. On the level of absolute truth, the mind of awakening is the realization of the awakened state itself.

A vināyaka.

A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).

A member of the highest class in the Indian caste hierarchy, which is most closely associated with religious vocations.

An Indian master from the eighth century who was a prolific commentator, especially on works of the Kriyā-, Caryā-, and Yogatantra classes.

A shrine or other structure used as a focal point for offerings. When these contain relics of a buddha or other realized beings, they are more commonly called stūpas.

A frequently invoked deity in esoteric Buddhist literature, her name references one of the lowest castes in Indian society.

The deified moon.

“Shadow”; a type of harmful being believed to be the source of disease and mental illness.

A generic term for a range of beings that includes both animals and spirits of various types.

A king of the asuras.

The general of the One-Tooth clan according to The Tantra of Subāhu’s Questions.

One of the three realms of saṃsāra, it is traditionally comprised of six realms of its own, from the hell realm to the realm of the gods, including the human realm. Rebirth in this realm is characterized by intense cravings via the five senses and their objects.

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.

An epithet of Indra.

The cultivation of morally virtuous and disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. Often the term is used in relation to the maintenance of formal vows.

An esoteric deity associated with Vajrapāṇi, sometimes identified as a nāga king.

A class of nonhuman female beings (masc. dūta); the name literally means “messenger,” which implies that these beings can be employed as messengers through magical rites.

Right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

A vidyā queen (vidyārājñī).

Five actions that bring immediate and severe consequences at death, so that the person who commits them will take rebirth in the lower realms directly after they die. The five are: patricide, matricide, killing an arhat, intentionally injuring a buddha, and causing a schism within the saṅgha.

A subsidiary set of actions that bring immediate and severe consequences at death, so that the person who commits them will take rebirth in the lower realms directly after they die. These five are: damaging a caitya, killing a bodhisattva, violating a nun or woman who has exhausted her afflictions, killing a novice student, and stealing from the saṅgha.

Notes on the Meaning glosses them only as “great kings,” but this term could refer to a number of Brahmanical deities or the deities that govern the cardinal directions.

In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.

A vidyā queen (vidyārājñī).

A class of nonhuman beings able to enter and possess the human body. They are often explicitly associated with astrological forces, have a harmful effect on physical and mental health, and are specifically said to cause seizures and insanity. Often this term is used to broadly refer to multiple classes of beings that can affect a person’s physical and mental health.

A vighna/vināyaka.

A subclass of yakṣas, but often used as an alternative name for yakṣas.

An important wrathful deity of the lotus clan. Hayagrīva is also a deity in the Brahmanical pantheon.

The second heaven of the desire realm, located above Mount Meru and reigned over by Śakra (Indra) and thirty-two other gods.

A type of bloodthirsty, charnel ground-dwelling being considered threatening to people and practitioners. In the higher classes of Buddhist tantra, the central deity of many maṇḍalas takes the form of a heruka.

The casting of a prescribed offering into a ritual fire. The practice of homa is first attested in pre-Buddhist Vedic literature, and serves as a core, pervasive ritual paradigm in exoteric and esoteric rites in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions into modern times. In Buddhist esoteric rites, the ritual offerings are made repeatedly, with each offering accompanied by a single repetition of the respective mantra.

The lord of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven on the summit of Mount Sumeru. As one of the eight guardians of the directions, Indra guards the eastern quarter. In Buddhist sūtras, he is a disciple of the Buddha and protector of the Dharma and its practitioners. He is often referred to by the epithets Śatakratu, Śakra, and Kauśika.

A mode of describing the relative nature of phenomena, in which each phenomenon arises in dependence upon causes and conditions. In many contexts, the term refers specifically to the twelve links of interdependent origination that describe the process of being bound in cyclic existence: ignorance, formation, consciousness, name and form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, appropriation, becoming, birth, and old age and death.