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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.

Parting from the Four Clingings

zhen pa zhi drä (Tib); zhen pa bzhi bral (Wyl)

A Sakya practice, the equivalent of the four aspects of the transformed mind in the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions and the three principal aspects of the path in the Gelug, where the renunciation of this life and of the whole of samsara are conjoined. They are: 1) if you cling to this life you are not a Dharma practitioner; 2) if you cling to future lives’ samsara, your mind is not in renunciation; 3) if you cling to cherishing the I, that is not bodhicitta; 4) if you cling to the I, that is not the right view.

path of merit

sambhara-marga (Skt); tsog lam (Tib); tshogs lam (Wyl)

The first of the five paths leading to buddhahood. Usually translated as path of accumulation. Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s preferred term is path of merit because the activity of this path is the accumulation of merit.

path of no more learning

ashaiksa-marga (Skt); mi lob pä lam (Tib); mi slob pa’i lam (Wyl)

The fifth and last path leading to buddhahood; buddhahood itself. See five paths.

Penpo

A county in Tibet, near Lhasa.