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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.
The five definite attributes of the sambhogakaya, the enjoyment body of a buddha. They are: 1) giving only Mahayana teachings; 2) existing until samsara ends; 3) being surrounded only by bodhisattvas; 4) abiding in the pure realm of Ogmin (Skt: Akanishtha); and 5) being adorned with the thirty-two perfect qualities and eighty minor perfections, the most sublime of Buddha’s qualities.
Five energy wheels or focal points of energy along the central channel (Skt: sushumna) upon which one's concentration is directed, especially during the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. The main chakras are the crown, throat, heart, navel, and secret place (the sex organ). In some systems, the first, at the brow, and the last, at the secret place, are omitted. See also channel.
The degenerations that occur as human beings evolve over the eon of existence; they are: the degeneration of disturbing thoughts, of lifespan, of time, of view and of sentient beings.
See the five buddha types.
They are: the view of the changeable aggregates, the view of the extremes, the view of holding wrong views as supreme, the view of holding our own moral and religious discipline as supreme and wrong view.
Divine hearing, knowing others' thoughts, remembering past lives, knowing the various rebirths of sentient beings—these fall into common siddhis—and the knowledge of the exhaustion of contaminations, which only arhats and buddhas can know.
The five great mantras are: the mantra of Kunrig, the mantra of Buddha Mitukpa, the Stainless Pinnacle, the Wish-Granting Wheel mantra, and the mantras of Namgyälma. These and the ten great mantras are incredibly beneficial when a being is dying or dead. See also ten great mantras.
The five great masters (patriarchs) who founded the Sakya tradition: Sachen Küngya Nyingpo (1092–1158), Lobpön Sonam Tsemo (1142–82), Jetsün Drakpa Gyaltsen (1147–1216), Sakya Pandita (1182–1251) and Drogön Chögyal Phakpa (1235–80).
The five main texts studied in the great Gelug monasteries: the Abhisamayalamkara, Vinaya, Madhyamaka, Abhidharmakosha and Pramanavarttika.
Taught by the Buddha in the Satipatthana Sutta: desire (especially sense desires), ill-will, sloth and torpor, distraction and worry, doubt and wavering.
Also called the five uninterrupted negative karmas or actions, the five heinous crimes, the five actions without break or the five actions of immediate retribution. The five actions that are so heavy that they cause one to be reborn in hell immediately after death. They are: 1) killing one’s mother; 2) killing one’s father; 3) killing an arhat; 4) maliciously drawing blood from a buddha; and 5) creating a schism in the Sangha.
The precepts taken by lay Buddhist practitioners for life: to abstain from killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct and taking intoxicants. See also pratimoksha vows.
