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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.

Machig Labdrön (1055–1149)

Literally "Unique Mother Torch of Lab", she was a great tantric practitioner and teacher who developed several chöd practices.

madana (Skt)

Nectar; one of two offering substances in a tantric offering, the other is bala.

Madhyamaka (Skt)

u ma (Tib); bdu ma (Wyl)

The Middle Way school, one of the two Mahayana (Great Vehicle) philosophical schools. The Middle Way school does not assert true establishment even conventionally. There are two divisions of the Middle Way school: 1) Autonomists (Skt: Svatantrika) and 2) Consequentialists (Skt: Prasangika). The Middle Way school was founded by Nagarjuna, based on the Prajnaparamita sutras of Shakyamuni Buddha, and is considered to be the supreme presentation of emptiness according to the Gelug tradition. See also Madhyamika and the four Buddhist philosophical schools.

Madhyamakavatara (Skt)

u ma la jug pa (Tib); dbu ma la 'jug pa (Wyl)

A Guide to the Middle Way, a famous text composed by Chandrakirti to supplement Nagarjuna's treatise Mulamadhyamakakarika (Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way). It is used as the main source book by most Tibetan monasteries for the study of emptiness.

Mahadeva (Skt)

Literally, "great god," an epithet for Shiva, one of the three principal Hindu deities with Brahma and Vishnu.

Mahakala (Skt)

nag po chen po (Tib, Wyl)

Wrathful male meditational deity connected with Heruka; a Dharma protector favored by Lama Yeshe.

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.