Skip to main content
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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.

Mahamudra (Skt)

chag ya chen po (Tib); phyag rgya chen po (Wyl)

The Great Seal; a profound system of meditation upon the mind and the ultimate nature of reality.

Mahayana (Skt)

teg chen (Tib); theg chen (Wyl)

Literally, Great Vehicle. It is one of the two general divisions of Buddhism. Mahayana practitioners' motivation for following the Dharma path is principally their intense wish for all mother sentient beings to be liberated from conditioned existence, or samsara, and to attain full enlightenment or buddhahood. The Mahayana has two divisions, Paramitayana (Sutrayana) and Vajrayana (Tantrayana, Mantrayana). See also Hinayana.

Maitreya (Skt)

Jampa (Tib); byams pa (Wyl)

After Shakyamuni Buddha, the next (fifth) of the thousand buddhas of this fortunate eon to descend to turn the wheel of Dharma. Presently residing in the pure land of Tushita (Ganden). Recipient of the method lineage of Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings, which, in a mystical transmission, he passed on to Asanga.

mala (Skt)

threng wa (Tib); phreng ba (Wyl)

A rosary of beads for counting mantras.

mandala (Skt)

khyil khor (Tib); dkyil 'khor (Wyl)

A circular diagram symbolic of the entire universe. The purified environment of a tantric deity; the diagram or painting representing this.