Shakyamuni Buddha’s cousin, who was jealous of Buddha and constantly tried to harm him.

A popular collection of sayings of the Buddha originally found in the Pali Canon. The Tibetan Dhammapada or Compilations of Indicative Verse was translated into English by Gareth Sparham and first published by Mahayana Publications, New Delhi, in 1983.

A village in the north-west of India, in Himachal Pradesh. The residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

The term dharani is from a Sanskrit root word that means “to hold or maintain.” Dharanis contain the essence of a teaching and are often compared to mantras, however, they are longer than mantras and are more likely to have intelligible phrases, like sutras. They are said to have the power to heal and protect from harm. Zungdu (Wyl: gzungs bsdus), a collection of dharanis found in the Kangyur, is often recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

A tutor to many Gelugpa tulkus and resident teacher at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India, before leaving to establish his own centers in New Zealand, where he passed away.

The second refuge jewel. Literally, “that which is established” but generally etymologized as “that which holds or protects (us from suffering)” and hence brings happiness and leads us towards liberation and enlightenment. In Buddhism, absolute Dharma is the realizations attained along the path to liberation and enlightenment, and conventional Dharma is seen as both the teachings of the Buddha and virtuous actions.

See protector.

One of the five transcendental wisdoms, the wisdom that apprehends the nature of phenomena. The other wisdoms are: mirror-like wisdom, wisdom of equality, all-accomplishing wisdom and wisdom of analysis.

The ultimate reality of a buddha’s enlightened mind, which is unborn, empty of true existence, free from conceptual thought, naturally radiant, beyond duality and spacious like the sky. One of the three embodiments of a buddha. Dharmakaya can be divided into the jnanakaya or wisdom body (the blissful omniscient mind of a buddha) and svabhavikakaya or nature body (the emptiness of the buddha's mind). See also rupakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya, two kayas, three kayas and four kayas.

A seventh-century Indian scholar and author of Seven Treatises of Valid Cognition. He is one of six great Indian scholars, known as the Six Ornaments.

See Serlingpa.

An eleventh-century Indian scholar, a guru of Atisha and author of the mind training text The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, also known as The Wheel Weapon Striking at the Vital Points of the Enemy.