A small hand drum used in tantric practice.

The eldest son of Marpa, he died at a young age and returned as the Indian brahmin Paravatapada or Tiphupa, who became important for the future of the Kagyü lineage in Tibet.

See delusion.

One of two main ways of understanding a Dharma teaching, this one is where the content is be taken literally and not open for interpretation, as opposed to the interpretive meaning.

We’re living in one! It has five characteristics: short life spans, scarce means of subsistence, mental afflictions, strong wrong views and weak sentient beings.

An emanation of the enlightened mind, the meditational deity used as the object of meditation in tantric practices.

An obscuration covering the essentially pure nature of the mind, causing suffering and dissatisfaction; the main delusion is ignorance and all the others come from this. See also the three poisons, the root delusions and secondary delusions.

See asura.

Born in Kham, Tibet, this learned lama studied at Drepung Loseling Monastery and was abbot of His Hoiness' Namgyal Monastery from 1986 to 1991. He is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's gurus.

Also called dependent arising. The way that the self and phenomena exist conventionally as relative and interdependent. They come into existence in dependence upon: 1) causes and conditions; 2) their parts; and, most subtly, 3) the mind imputing, or labeling, them. See also twelve links.

One of the three realms of samsara, comprising the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras (demi-gods) and the six lower classes of suras (gods); beings in this realm are preoccupied with desire for objects of the six senses. See also six abodes of the desire realm gods.

A god existing in a state with much comfort and pleasure in the desire, form or formless realms.