Water (for drinking); one of the offering substances.

The Tibetan translates as "foe destroyer." A person who has destroyed their inner enemy, the delusions, and attained liberation from cyclic existence.

A female arhat.

Also known as chebulic myrobalan; the botanical name is terminalia cherbula. A fruit that is one of the three fundamental Tibetan medicines; the Medicine Buddha holds the stem of the arura plant in his right hand. Ordinary arura is commonly used in Tibetan medical compounds; special arura—which is said to cure any sickness—is extremely rare.

Literally, noble. One who has realized the wisdom of emptiness.

A third-century Indian Buddhist philosopher and leading early proponent of Nagarjuna's Prasangika Madhyamaka philosophy. He is one of six great Indian scholars, known as the Six Ornaments.

The fourth-century Indian master who received directly from Maitreya Buddha the extensive, or method, lineage of Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings. Said to have founded the Cittamatra school of Buddhist philosophy. He is one of six great Indian scholars, known as the Six Ornaments.

Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty (about 250 BC) who converted to Buddhism and propagated Buddhism across Asia.

The third-century Indian master, renowned for his scholarship and poetry, who is the author of Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion.

Also called wishing, or aspiring bodhicitta; the spontaneous, uncontrived mind that wishes to attain full enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. See also engaging bodhicitta and bodhicitta.

Demi-god. A being in the god realms who enjoys greater comfort and pleasure than human beings, but who suffers from jealousy and quarreling.

The renowned Indian master who went to Tibet in 1042 to help in the revival of Buddhism and established the Kadam tradition. Atisha wrote the seminal text, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, in which he organized the Buddha's teachings into clear steps, known as lamrim, or stages of the path to enlightenment.