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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.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 nine stages a meditator passes through to attain calm abiding (Skt: shamatha). They are mental placement, continuous placement, patched placement, close placement, taming, pacification, complete pacification, one-pointed attention, balanced placement.
The nine-point death meditation is an important meditation on the impermanence of this life. It consists of three main roots: 1) death is certain; 2) the time of death is uncertain; and 3) nothing can help at the time of death except Dharma practice. Each root has three points and a conclusion.
A meditation technique using nine inhalations and exhalations with specific visualizations to calm and clear the mind.
The emanation body of a buddha that manifests in a variety of forms for sentient beings. See also dharmakaya, rupakaya, sambhogakaya, two kayas, three kayas and four kayas.
See liberation.
The eight components of the path to cessation of suffering taught by the Buddha. They are: correct speech, correct action, correct livelihood, correct effort, correct mindfulness, correct concentration, correct understanding and correct view.
According to the Prasangika school, this is the nirvana of a buddha, free from both samsara and the nirvana of a Hinayana arhat; one of the three types of nirvana, or liberation; the other two are cessation with residue and cessation without residue.
Negative karma; that which results in suffering.
The old translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, which traces its teachings back to the time of Padmasambhava, the eighth century Indian tantric master invited to Tibet by King Trisong Detsen to clear away hindrances to the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet. The first of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Cf. Kagyü, Sakya and Gelug.
A follower of the Nyingma tradition.
A two-day Thousand-arm Chenrezig retreat that involves fasting, prostrations and silence.
An object to be refuted or eliminated. There are different objects of negation in different contexts, but when meditating on emptiness according to Prasangika (the Middle Way Consequence school), the object of negation is inherent existence.
