The Teaching on the Great Miracle
Mahāprātihāryanirdeśa
A bodhisattva’s attainment of forbearance toward all phenomena as being nonarising or unborn (
The fourth of the six perfections, it is a state of mind characterized by joyful perseverance when engaging in virtuous activity. Diligence becomes a perfection practice when it is accompanied by the view of emptiness.
The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (moha). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.
Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.
Lit. a “heap” or “pile.” The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, karmic formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.
A term, gesture, appellation, or symbol through which meaning is conveyed.
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
This was an important early site for the Buddha’s growing community. Anāthapiṇḍada, a wealthy patron of the Buddha, purchased the park, located outside Śrāvastī, at great cost, purportedly covering the ground with gold, and donated it to the saṅgha. It was there that the Buddha spent several rainy seasons and gave discourses that were later recorded as sūtras. It was also the site for one of the first Buddhist monasteries. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)
Practices of mindfulness, often classified as four, namely mindfulness pertaining to body, sensation, mind, and phenomena.
The Theravadin tradition lists thirteen such practices as evidenced in Visuddhimagga by Buddhagosha while in Mahāyāna tradition there are generally only twelve. Though not part of Vinaya rules, it is common for monks to strive to practice at least one of the ascetic practices such as by dwelling in the wilderness.
A declaration of one’s aspirations and vows, and/or an invocation and request of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, etc.
A stable attitude of mind that regards all beings equally, without hostility or favor.
“One Who Sees.” Here the name of a god present in the assembly of Buddha Śākyamuni when he gives the Teaching on the Great Miracle. He is prophesied to become a universal monarch by the name of Sudarśana after the full awakening of the tathāgatha Guṇarājbaprabha, and then to become a fully awakened tathāgatha himself, with the name Samantaprabha.
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.
The four qualities of samādhi that eliminate negative factors and are the supports for supernatural powers: aspiration, diligence, contemplation, and analysis.
The ultimate nature of phenomena as unproduced and nonarising, because birth and production can occur only on the relative, or superficial, level. The eleventh link of release from dependent origination.
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 name of the past world system and buddhafield of the tathāgata Sumerukalpa.
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).
The exalted heavens of the form realm, where the brahmā deities reside.
The attitudes, usually listed as four (sometimes also referred to as the “four immeasurable states”) in which brahmā deities dwell. Namely immeasurable goodwill or loving kindness (Pali:
There are seven branches of awakening: mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, pliancy, absorption, and equanimity.
Refers to the meditative practice of calming the mind to rest free from the disturbances of thought. One of the two basic forms of Buddhist meditation, the other being special insight.
In Buddhist usage, a general term for non-Buddhist religious mendicants, often occurring together with parivrājakas and nirgranthas in stock lists of followers of non-Buddhist movements.
Dhyāna is defined as one-pointed abiding in an undistracted state of mind, free from afflicted mental states. Four states of dhyāna are identified as being conducive to birth within the form realm. In the context of the Mahāyāna, it is the fifth of the six perfections. It is commonly translated as “concentration,” “meditative concentration,” and so on.
A bodhisattva’s attainment of forbearance toward phenomena in accordance with the true nature of phenomena as taught by the Dharma. Sometimes listed as an attainment on the eighth bodhisattva level. For a fuller account of this level of acceptance, see the eight verses at
Consciousness is the fifth of the five aggregates. Generally classified into the five sensory consciousnesses and the mental consciousness.
In the context of Buddhist philosophy, one way to describe experience in terms of eighteen elements (eye, form, and eye consciousness; ear, sound, and ear consciousness; nose, smell, and nose consciousness; tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness; body, touch, and body consciousness; and mind, mental phenomena, and mind consciousness).
This also refers to the elements of the world, which can be enumerated as four, five, or six. The four elements are earth, water, fire, and air. A fifth, space, is often added, and the sixth is consciousness.
Literally, “to flow” or “to ooze.” Mental defilements or contaminations that “flow out” toward the objects of cyclic existence, binding us to them. Vasubandhu offers two alternative explanations of this term: “They cause beings to remain (āsayanti) within saṃsāra” and “They flow from the Summit of Existence down to the Avīci hell, out of the six wounds that are the sense fields” (Abhidharmakośabhāṣya 5.40; Pradhan 1967, p. 308). The Summit of Existence (bhavāgra, srid pa’i rtse mo) is the highest point within saṃsāra, while the hell called Avīci (mnar med) is the lowest; the six sense fields (āyatana, skye mched) here refer to the five sense faculties plus the mind, i.e., the six internal sense fields.
Usually listed as four: Relinquishing negative acts in the present and the future, and enhancing positive acts in the present and the future.
The relative nature of phenomena, which arise in dependence on causes and conditions.
In Buddhist cosmology, this is our own realm, the lowest and most coarse of the three realms of saṃsāra. It is called this because beings here are characterized by their strong longing for and attachment to the pleasures of the senses. The desire realm includes hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras, and the lowest six heavens of the gods—from the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (cāturmahārājika) up to the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (paranirmitavaśavartin). Located above the desire realm is the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).
Sentences or phrases that are said to hold the essence of a teaching or its meaning. According to context, the term can variously mean an exceptional power of mental retention or a healing spell. The term is also rendered in this translation as “power of retention.”
See “dhāraṇī.”
Speaker or oral reciter of the Dharma. In early Buddhism, before the teachings were written down, a section of the saṅgha were
A
A former buddha who prophesized the awakening of Śākyamuni.
Clairaudience, one of the six “superknowledges.” The sublime ability to understand all languages and listen to them whether they are nearby or far away.
Clairvoyance, one of the six “superknowledges” as well as one of the “five eyes.” The supernormal ability to see to an unlimited distance, observe events in other worlds, see through mountains, etc. The five eyes consist of five different faculties of vision: the physical eye (
The range of perception or experience.
A set of circumstances that do not provide the freedom to practice the Buddhist path: being born in the realms of (1) the hells, (2) hungry ghosts (pretas), (3) animals, or (4) long-lived gods, or in the human realm among (5) barbarians or (6) extremists, (7) in places where the Buddhist teachings do not exist, or (8) without adequate faculties to understand the teachings where they do exist.
These consist of the exact opposites of the eight branches of the eightfold noble path, namely, wrong view, wrong intention, wrong speech, wrong actions, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong samādhi.
The eight-branched purification vow, which may be taken as a temporary or as a lifelong commitment, consists first of the five precepts—refraining from (1) killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) lying, and (5) consuming intoxicants—plus three further, namely refraining from (6) resting on a high or luxurious bed, (7) wearing ornaments, makeup or perfume, and (8) eating at improper times (after midday).
The element or constituent of phenomena is one of the eighteen constituents, referring to mental phenomena.
The inspired ability and confidence to speak about the Dharma in the most appropriate way, even for very long stretches of time.
The term literally means to be killed or slain. It also means enemy, which is the most appropriate choice here.
Mvy 6503. This means entering with certainty. A technical term for a stage of spiritual development.
One of the four immeasurables (the others being loving kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy). The antidote to attachment and aversion; a mental state free from bias toward sentient beings and experiences. Counted among the thirty-seven factors for awakening.
Literally, “where cattle (Skt.
Thirty-seven practices that lead the practitioner to the awakened state: the four applications of mindfulness, the four correct exertions, the four bases of supernatural power, the five masteries, the five powers, the eightfold path, and the seven branches of awakening.
May refer to the sense faculties (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste, and the mental faculty). May also refer to the “five faculties” that are cultivated on the first two stages of the bodhisattva path, namely faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and knowledge. When developed further these become the “five strengths.”
False conceptualization pertaining to the state of liberation that is nonconceptual in nature.
Refers to transgressions of moral conduct as prescribed by Buddhist precepts and vows.
Refers to the four fearlessnesses in (1) declaring that one has reached awakening, (2) declaring that all illusions have ceased, (3) teaching the obstacles to awakening, and (4) showing the way to liberation.
Feeling or affect is the second of the five aggregates. It encompasses all pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral feelings that arise from sensory experience.
Leaving behind, escaping, departing from, or being emancipated from, cyclic existence. Used as a synonym for nirvāṇa.
See “aggregates.”
Form is the first of the five aggregates. It encompasses all physical materiality.
One of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology, it is characterized by subtle materiality. Here beings, though subtly embodied, are not driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification. It consists of seventeen heavens structured according to the four concentrations of the form realm (rūpāvacaradhyāna), the highest five of which are collectively called “pure abodes” (śuddhāvāsa). The form realm is located above the desire realm (kāmadhātu) and below the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).
The highest and subtlest of the three realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology. Here beings are no longer bound by materiality and enjoy a purely mental state of absorption. It is divided in four levels according to each of the four formless concentrations (ārūpyāvacaradhyāna), namely, the Sphere of Infinite Space (ākāśānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness (vijñānānantyāyatana), the Sphere of Nothingness (akiñcanyāyatana), and the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-perception (naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatana). The formless realm is located above the other two realms of saṃsāra, the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the desire realm (kāmadhātu).
The four means by which disciples are attracted are generosity, kind talk, meaningful action, and consistency between what one practices what one preaches.
Taking what is impermanent to be permanent, what is suffering to be happiness, what is unclean to be clean, and what is not self to be a self.
Generally referred to as the “four noble truths,” which encapsulate the Buddha’s first teaching on suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering.
The first of the six perfections. Generosity becomes a perfection practice only when it is accompanied by the view of emptiness.
The name of our current eon, so called because one thousand buddhas are prophesied to appear in succession during this time.
The largest universe spoken of in Abhidharma cosmology. A great trichiliocosm is composed of one thousand worlds, each of which contains one thousand worlds, each of which contains one thousand worlds, therefore totaling a thousand to the power of three, or one billion worlds.
Literally “world protectors.” Typically refers to the Four Great Kings of the four directions namely, Vaiśravaṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, and Virūpākṣa, whose mission is to report on the activities of humankind to the gods of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven (Heaven of the Thirty-Three) and who have pledged to protect the practitioners of the Dharma. Each universe has its own set of four.
A name of a future tathāgata in the buddhafield Pariśuddha, during the eon called Stainless. The Buddha Śākyamuni prophesies that the god Sārthavāha will achieve buddhahood as this tathāgata.
A most highly revered personal spiritual teacher; not to be confused with the future buddha Guru.
The highest of the six heavens of the desire realm. The inhabitants enjoy objects created by others and dispose of them themselves.
To be heedful is to maintain conscious awareness of the nature of phenomena, even when engaged in the most insignificant, or the most arduous, aspects of practical life. Often considered one of three aspects of mindfulness, along with recollection (Tib.
Something that has no substantial reality.
Empty without any significance.
A mantra-like formula for invoking specific deities, often to bring about more mundane accomplishments in Buddhist ritual practices. A vidyā is at once considered the incantation and the deity it invokes.
The sixth of the six perfections, it refers to the profound understanding of the emptiness of all phenomena, the realization of ultimate reality.
A cosmic period of time. Following the Abhidharma system, eighty intermediate eons together compose one great eon (
The transitional, disembodied state between death and rebirth, which in Tibetan tradition is said to last up to forty-nine days.
A stage on the path at which a bodhisattva will never turn back, nor be turned back, from inevitable progress toward the full awakening of a buddha.
A park in Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. It was owned by Prince Jeta, and the wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, bought it from him by covering the entire property with gold coins. It was to become the place where the monks could be housed during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It is therefore the setting for many of the Buddha's discourses.
Jinamitra was invited to Tibet during the reign of King Tri Songdetsen (khri srong lde btsan, r. 742–98 ᴄᴇ) and was involved with the translation of nearly two hundred texts, continuing into the reign of King Ralpachen (ral pa can, r. 815–38 ᴄᴇ). He was one of the small group of paṇḍitas responsible for the Mahāvyutpatti Sanskrit–Tibetan dictionary.
Son of the future universal monarch named Sudarśana mentioned in this sūtra.
Meaning “action” in its most basic sense, karma is an important concept in Buddhist philosophy as the cumulative force of previous physical, verbal, and mental acts, which determines present experience and will determine future existences.
Formation is the fourth of the five aggregates. It encompasses the very subtle karmic tendencies that shape an individual’s saṃsāric experience. In Abhidharma literature there are typically fifty-one
The result of a former karmic action or karmic formation.
Analysis, interpretation, or definition of words and phrases based on parsing, conventional usage, and contextual etymology.
The instant or process of conception in the womb which links the previous to the next birth.
The name of one of the thousand sons of King Śubhavyūha in a previous eon who was reborn as the Buddha Śākyamuni. The name literally means “Mind of Great Compassion.”
Literally “Great Vehicle,” which is the vehicle of bodhisattvas. The Mahāyana is known as “great” (
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.
One of the four māras or “demons” (Skt.
One of the four māras (Skt.
One of the four māras or “demons” (Skt.
One of the four māras or “demons” (Skt.
The Sanskrit literally means “attainment,” and is used to refer specifically to meditative attainment and to particular meditative states. The Tibetan translators interpreted it as sama-āpatti, which suggests the idea of “equal” or “level”; however, they also parsed it as sam-āpatti, in which case it would have the sense of “concentration” or “absorption,” much like samādhi, but with the added sense of “attainment.”
In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.
In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.
See “meditative stability.”
The concept of skillful or expedient means is central to the understanding of the Buddha’s enlightened deeds and the many scriptures that are revealed contingent on the needs, interests, and mental dispositions of specific types of individuals. It is, therefore, equated with compassion and the form body of the buddhas, the rūpakāya.
According to the Great Vehicle, training in skillful means collectively denotes the first five of the six perfections when integrated with wisdom, the sixth perfection. It is therefore paired with wisdom (prajñā), forming the two indispensable aspects of the path. It is also the seventh of the ten perfections. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)
Mind (
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.
This is the faculty which enables the mind to maintain its attention on a referent object, counteracting the arising of forgetfulness, which is a great obstacle to meditative stability. Often considered one of three aspects of mindfulness, along with heedfulness (Tib.
The Sanskrit ārya has the general meaning of a noble person, one of a higher class or caste. In Buddhist literature, depending on the context, it often means specifically one who has gained the realization of the path and is superior for that reason. In particular, it applies to stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and worthy ones (arhats) and is also used as an epithet of bodhisattvas. In the five-path system, it refers to someone who has achieved at least the path of seeing (darśanamārga).
One of the three types of miracles employed by tathāgatas. Based on knowing all their thoughts and intentions and previously acquired roots of virtue, it is when a tathāgata foretells a person’s future rebirths and whether they will reach awakening.
One of the three types of miracles employed by tathāgatas.
One of the three types of miracles employed by tathāgatas. The main topic of Toh 66.
The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.
In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).
The second of the six perfections. Morality becomes a perfection practice only when it is accompanied by the view of emptiness.
The nine abodes are listed in Dungkar’s encyclopedia (dung dkar tshig mdzod chen mo) as (1) among those with different (tha dad) bodies and perceptions, such as humans and some gods, (2) among those with different bodies and a single perception, such as the Brahmakāyika gods, (3) among those with a single body and different perceptions, such as the Ābhāsvara gods, (4) among those with a single body and a single perception, such as the Śubhakṛtsna gods, and (5) among beings in Asaṃjñisattva, (6) in the station of endless space, (7) in the station of endless consciousness, (8) in the station of nothing-at-all, and (9) in the station of neither perception nor nonperception.
Thinking that someone harms oneself, harms someone dear to oneself, or benefits someone dear to oneself, in each of the present, past, and future.
Nine states of concentration that one may attain during a human life, namely the four concentrations corresponding to the form realm, the four formless absorptions, and the attainment of the state of cessation.
The Sanskrit means “extinguishment.” When the causes for saṃsāra are extinguished there is the cessation of suffering. The Tibetan means “passed beyond suffering.”
The eight are right view (
The absence of karmic formation, one of the twelve links of release from dependent origination.
Nonexistence or absence.
The open awareness in which there is no dualistic perception or apprehension of objects. See “referential objectification.”
Specific behavioral prescriptions, often time-delimited, that are adopted. In the context of esoteric practices they differ from rite to rite, and from practice system to practice system.
“Lotus-filled.” The name of the royal palace of the former buddha Dīpaṃkara.
This refers to what occurs at the end of an arhat’s or a buddha’s life. When nirvāṇa is attained at awakening, whether as an arhat or buddha, all suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence have ceased, but due to previously accumulated karma, the aggregates of that life remain and must still exhaust themselves. It is only at the end of life that these cease, and since no new aggregates arise, the arhat or buddha is said to attain parinirvāṇa, meaning “complete” or “final” nirvāṇa. This is synonymous with the attainment of nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa).
According to the Mahāyāna view of a single vehicle (ekayāna), the arhat’s parinirvāṇa at death, despite being so called, is not final. The arhat must still enter the bodhisattva path and reach buddhahood (see Unraveling the Intent, Toh 106, 7.14.) On the other hand, the parinirvāṇa of a buddha, ultimately speaking, should be understood as a display manifested for the benefit of beings; see The Teaching on the Extraordinary Transformation That Is the Miracle of Attaining the Buddha’s Powers (Toh 186), 1.32.
The term parinirvāṇa is also associated specifically with the passing away of the Buddha Śākyamuni, in Kuśinagara, in northern India.
Lit. “Utterly Pure,” the name of the buddhafield of the tathāgata Guṇarājaprabha.
A general term for homeless religious mendicants who literally “roam around”; in Buddhist usage the term refers to non-Buddhist peripatetic ascetics, including Jains and others.
The ten nonvirtues are killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, gossip, covetousness, ill will, and wrong views.
The third of the six perfections. Patient acceptance becomes a perfection practice when it is accompanied by the view of emptiness. For these levels of patient acceptance based on the emptiness of all phenomena, see “concordance acceptance” and “acceptance of the unborn nature of phenomena.”
Perception is the third of the five aggregates. It encompasses the mental processes of recognizing and identifying objects of the five senses and the mind. Third of the five aggregates.
A common description of buddhas. According to some explanations, “wisdom” refers to awakening, and “conduct” to the three trainings (
An Indian Bengali paṇḍita resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Arriving in Tibet on an invitation from the Tibetan king, he assisted in the translation of numerous canonical scriptures. He is also the author of a few philosophical commentaries contained in the Tibetan Tengyur (
Sometimes translated as “solitary enlightened ones” or those who have “awakened on their own.” Pratyekabuddhas are typically defined as those who have attained liberation without reliance on a teacher, however, they are unable to teach the path to liberation to others. Pratyekabuddhas are said to appear in universes and times in which there is no fully enlightened buddha who has rediscovered the path and taught it to others.
The vehicle, or route to liberation, of pratyekabuddhas.
Can refer to training in general or, more specifically, to precepts undertaken, in particular the five fundamental moral precepts of abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and consuming intoxicants.
Can refer to celibacy in its narrowest sense; in a broader sense it refers to the conduct of those who have renounced worldly life to devote themselves to spiritual study and practice.
A synonym for emptiness or the ultimate reality, that encompasses all phenomena.
dmigs (pa) translates a number of Sanskrit terms, including ālambana, upalabdhi, and ālambate. These terms commonly refer to the apprehending of a subject, an object, and the relationships that exist between them. The term may also be translated as “referentiality,” meaning a system based on the existence of referent objects, referent subjects, and the referential relationships that exist between them. As part of their doctrine of “threefold nonapprehending/nonreferentiality” (’khor gsum mi dmigs pa), Mahāyāna Buddhists famously assert that all three categories of apprehending lack substantiality.
The four reliances (Skt.
Cumulative meritorious deeds performed by an individual throughout past lives, acquired in particular by serving previous tathāgatas. A common threefold list of roots of virtue lists the absence of the three poisons: non-greed (Skt.
An ancient title given to ascetics, monks, hermits, and saints, namely those who have attained the realization of truth through their own contemplation and not by divine revelation. It is also used as an epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni, and has also been rendered here as “Sage.”
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.
“All Illuminating.”A future Buddha, prophesied as a future incarnation of the god Avalokiteśvara present in the audience of this sūtra.
The sameness (
The continuum of repeated birth and death propelled by karma and afflictive emotions. Sometimes translated as “cyclic existence.”
Though often specifically reserved for the monastic community, this term can be applied to any of the four Buddhist communities—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—as well as to identify the different groups of practitioners, like the community of bodhisattvas or the community of śrāvakas. It is also the third of the Three Jewels (triratna) of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Teaching, and the Community.
One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was renowned for his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise (often paired with Maudgalyāyana, who was praised as foremost in the capacity for miraculous powers). His father, Tiṣya, to honor Śāriputra’s mother, Śārikā, named him Śāradvatīputra, or, in its contracted form, Śāriputra, meaning “Śārikā’s Son.”
A god in the assembly at Jetavana who questions the Buddha on the nature and variety of miracles used by the Buddha to tame beings. The name literally means “Guide.”
The experiential range of the awakened state that is beyond dualistic perception. Often used synonymously with
These can be listed as twelve or as six sense sources (sometimes also called sense fields, bases of cognition, or simply āyatanas).
In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: (1–2) eye and form, (3–4) ear and sound, (5–6) nose and odor, (7–8) tongue and taste, (9–10) body and touch, (11–12) mind and mental phenomena.
In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned, and they are the inner sense sources (identical to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.
Seven categories that describe living beings in the higher realms, from humans up to the formless realm: (1) those different in body and different in perception; (2) those different in body and equal in perception; (3) those equal in body but different in perception; (4) those equal in body and equal in perception; (5) those reborn in the sphere of boundless space; (6) those reborn in the sphere of boundless consciousness; and (7) those reborn in the sphere of nothingness.
The set of seven factors or aspects that characteristically manifest on the path of seeing: (1) mindfulness (smṛti, dran pa), (2) discrimination between dharmas (dharmapravicaya, chos rab tu rnam ’byed/shes rab), (3) diligence (vīrya, brtson ’grus), (4) joy (prīti, dga’ ba), (5) mental and physical ease (praśrabdhi, shin sbyangs), (6) meditative absorption (samādhi, ting nge ’dzin), and (7) equanimity (upekṣā, btang snyoms).
The seven treasures of a universal monarch (
The ultimate nature of phenomena as being devoid of marks and signs. The second of the three doors of liberation.
An important form of Buddhist meditation focusing on developing insight into the nature of phenomena. Often presented as part of a pair of meditation techniques, the other being
Disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat by seeking their own liberation. Śrāvakas are typically defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard by others.”
The vehicle comprising the teachings of the śrāvakas.
Śrāvastī (Pali:
The name of an eon during which god Sārthavāha will attain buddhahood as prophesized by Śākyamuni Buddha.
The ten strengths of a buddha are reflection, intention, application, insight, aspiration, vehicle, conduct, manifestation, awakening, and turning the wheel of Dharma. The five strengths are faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and knowledge— the same as the five faculties but at a greater level of development.
A universal monarch in a previous eon who was reborn as the god Sārthavāha during the time of Śākyamuni Buddha.
The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms.
The ultimate nature of things, or the way things are in reality, as opposed to the way they appear to unawakened beings.
“Excellent to Behold.” A future universal monarch in the buddhafield of the buddha Guṇarājbaprabha. Prophesied as a future incarnation of the god named Avalokitesvara.
A buddha in a previous eon, whose buddhafield is known as Bliss.
The superknowledges are typically listed as either five or six. The first five are the divine eye (clairvoyance), divine ear (clairaudience), performance of miraculous power, recollection of past lives, and knowing others’ thoughts. A sixth, knowing that all outflows have been eliminated, is often added. The first five are attained through concentration (
The supernatural powers of a śrāvaka correspond to the first abhijñā: “Being one he becomes many, being many he becomes one; he becomes visible, invisible; goes through walls, ramparts and mountains without being impeded, just as through air; he immerses himself in the earth and emerges from it as if in water; he goes on water without breaking through it, as if on [solid] earth; he travels through the air crosslegged like a winged bird; he takes in his hands and touches the moon and the sun, those two wonderful, mighty beings, and with his body he extends his power as far as the Brahma world” (Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, trans. Lamotte 2003).
The great supernatural powers (maharddhi) of bodhisattvas are “causing trembling, blazing, illuminating, rendering invisible, transforming, coming and going across obstacles, reducing or enlarging worlds, inserting any matter into one’s own body, assuming the aspects of those one frequents, appearing and disappearing, submitting everyone to one’s will, dominating the supernormal power of others, giving intellectual clarity to those who lack it, giving mindfulness, bestowing happiness, and finally, emitting beneficial rays” (Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, trans. Lamotte 2003).
An Indian paṇḍita invited to Tibet during the reign of King Ralpachen (r. 815–38 ᴄᴇ). He was one of the small group of paṇḍitas responsible for the Mahāvyutpatti Sanskrit–Tibetan dictionary.
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A category of the distinctive qualities of a tathāgata. They are knowing what is possible and what is impossible; knowing the results of actions or the ripening of karma; knowing the various inclinations of sentient beings; knowing the various
The ten qualities are the perfection of the eight practices of the noble eightfold path plus the qualities of liberation and wisdom. The qualities of a fully realized arhat.
Avoidance of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct (which are faults of the body), lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, gossip (which are faults of speech), and covetousness, ill will, and wrong views (which are faults of the mind).
These are the major physical marks that identify the buddha body of emanation and which, in some sources and traditions, portend the advent of a universal monarch. As well as being listed in this and other Prajñāpāramitā sūtras (see The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines [Toh 11],
A person who has attained the highest level of realization on their respective path, whether that of the listeners, the solitary buddhas or the buddhas.
A person who has not yet attained the highest level of realization on their respective path, whether that of the listeners, the solitary buddhas or the buddhas.
Literally “three spheres.” Often refers to the three aspects of any given action: the doer, the action, and the object of the action. More broadly can refer to any set of three aspects of a thing or quality. For example the three dimensions of a virtue as they relate to the body, speech and mind.
The three characteristics of all compounded or conditioned phenomena, as found in early Buddhism, are 1) impermanence, 2) suffering and 3) the absence of self-nature. In Mahāyāna Buddhism they are more often encountered as the first three of the Four Seals.
The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”
The formless realm, the form realm, and the desire realm, comprised of thirty-one planes of existence in Buddhist cosmology.
Refers to the three root poisons of anger, desire, and ignorance.
Qualities of an arhat who has the three knowledges (
The threefold liberation, which corresponds with the “three doors of liberation,” are the realizations of the emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness with regard to all phenomena.
The term used by early Buddhists to refer to contemporary religious or philosophical orders, including Brahmanical traditions as well as non-Brahmanical traditions such as the Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Initially, the term
The transitory collection of the five aggregates, the basis for the view of a self or that which belongs to a self.
The principle of dependent origination asserts that nothing exists independently of other factors, the reason for this being that things and events come into existence only by dependence on the aggregation of multiple causes and conditions. In general, the processes of cyclic existence, through which the external world and the sentient beings within it revolve in a continuous cycle of suffering, propelled by the propensities of past actions and their interaction with afflicted mental states, originate dependent on the sequential unfolding of twelve links: (1) fundamental ignorance, (2) formative predispositions, (3) consciousness, (4) name and form, (5) sense field, (6) sensory contact, (7) sensation, (8) craving, (9) grasping, (10) rebirth process, (11) actual birth, (12) aging and death. It is through deliberate reversal of these twelve links that one can succeed in bringing the whole cycle to an end.
Synonymous with
Not being composed of constituent parts; not dependent on causes.
An ideal monarch or emperor who, as the result of the merit accumulated in previous lifetimes, rules over a vast realm in accordance with the Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he bears a wheel (cakra) that rolls (vartate) across the earth, bringing all lands and kingdoms under his power. The cakravartin conquers his territory without causing harm, and his activity causes beings to enter the path of wholesome actions. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, just as with the buddhas, only one cakravartin appears in a world system at any given time. They are likewise endowed with the thirty-two major marks of a great being (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), but a cakravartin’s marks are outshined by those of a buddha. They possess seven precious objects: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the wish-fulfilling gem, the queen, the general, and the minister. An illustrative passage about the cakravartin and his possessions can be found in The Play in Full (Toh 95), 3.3–3.13.
Vasubandhu lists four types of cakravartins: (1) the cakravartin with a golden wheel (suvarṇacakravartin) rules over four continents and is invited by lesser kings to be their ruler; (2) the cakravartin with a silver wheel (rūpyacakravartin) rules over three continents and his opponents submit to him as he approaches; (3) the cakravartin with a copper wheel (tāmracakravartin) rules over two continents and his opponents submit themselves after preparing for battle; and (4) the cakravartin with an iron wheel (ayaścakravartin) rules over one continent and his opponents submit themselves after brandishing weapons.
Fake, not real.
One of the thirty-two marks of a great being. It consists of a soft, long, fine, coiled white hair between the eyebrows capable of emitting an intense bright light. Literally, the Sanskrit ūrṇā means “wool hair,” and kośa means “treasure.”
The view of oneself and others having an objectively existent life force.
The view of oneself and others as having a discrete and enduring identity or personhood.
The view of oneself and others as having an objectively existing self.
The view of oneself and others as objectively existent beings.
The view on oneself and others as an enduring, objectively existent being.
The view that things cease to be.
The belief or the view that things have true eternal existence.
The view or belief that nothing exists.
The view that things come into being.
Also called “alertness” or “introspective awareness,” the faculty of mind that maintains a conscious watch for any inclination of the mind toward mental dullness or agitation, especially during meditation. Often considered one of three aspects of mindfulness, along with recollection (Tib.
The vows and texts pertaining to monastic discipline. One of the three piṭakas, or “baskets,” of the Buddhist canon—the one dealing specifically with the code of monastic discipline.
A spiritual teacher who can contribute to an individual’s progress on the path to awakening and act wholeheartedly for the welfare of students.
Although the Sanskrit term
The absence of any desire or aspiration toward any aspect of the three realms of cyclic existence. The third of the three doors of liberation.
Lit. “world of the Lord of Death.” Another name for
’phags pa cho ’phrul chen po bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryamahāprātihāryanirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 66, Degé Kangyur vol. 43 (dkon brtsegs, ca), folios 36.a–67.b.
’phags pa cho ’phrul chen po bstan pa zhes bya ba 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), 2006–9, vol. 43, pp. 101–78.
’phags pa cho ’phrul chen po bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ca), folios 100.b–148.b.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos ’byung (bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod). In The Collected Works of Bu-Ston, vol. 24 (ya), folios 1.b–212.a (pp. 633–1055). New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71. BDRC W22106.
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