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Glossary

This glossary contains an alphabetical list of Buddhist terms that you may find on this website. Many of the terms now include phoneticized Sanskrit (Skt) as well as two forms of Tibetan—the phonetic version (Tib), which is a guide to pronunciation, and transliteration using the Wylie method (Wyl). Search for the term you want by entering it in the search box or browse through the listing by clicking on the letters below. Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.

Kangyur (Tib)

bka’ ‘gyur (Wyl)

The part of the Tibetan Canon that contains the sutras and tantras; literally, "translation of the (Buddha's) word." It contains 108 volumes.

karma (Skt)

lä (Tib); las (Wyl)

Action; the working of cause and effect, whereby positive (virtuous) actions produce happiness and negative (non-virtuous) actions produce suffering.

Karmapa (Tib)

kar ma pa (Wyl)

The head of the Kagyü lineage, one of the four Tibetan traditions. The tradition of the Karmapa was founded in 1110. His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje is the seventeenth Karmapa.

karmic view

The way in which things appear to us influenced by karma created in the past.

Khadro-la (b. 1976)

Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme, a female oracle to His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and highly realized being, now also teaching throughout the world.