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Glossary

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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.

object-determining mental factors

vishayapratiniyama-chaitta (Skt); sem jung yul nge (Tib); sems byung yul nges (Wyl)

One of the six groups of mental factors, these accompany all virtuous minds and their function is to ascertain the object. There are five: aspiration, belief, mindfulness, stabilization, and wisdom.

omnipresent mental factors

sarvatraga-chaitta (Skt); sem jung kun dro (Tib); sems byung kun ‘gro (Wyl)

One of the six groups of mental factors, these accompany every main mind. There are five: feeling, discrimination, intention, mental engagement and contact.

oral transmission

lung (Tib, Wyl)

The verbal transmission of a teaching, meditation practice or mantra from guru to disciple, the guru having received the transmission in an unbroken lineage from the original source. Note that oral transmission and wind disease have the same Tibetan phonetic spelling (lung), but the Wylie transliteration is slightly different.

Orgyen (Tib)

Oddiyana (Skt); o rgyan (Wyl)

Also known as Oddiyana, the place in Pakistan, generally thought to be in Swat Valley, where Shakyamuni Buddha manifested as Chakrasamvara to reveal the Chakrasamvara teachings. Also where Padmasambhava was said to be born. This place name is a Tibetan corruption of the Sanskrit “Uddiyana” and is sometimes seen as Urgyen, not to be confused with the Tibetan term for the ushnisha, the crown ornament of a buddha (Tib: urgyän; Wyl: dbu rgyan).

outer being

chipa (Tib); phyi pa (Wyl)

A person who relies on non-Buddhist philosophies and external phenomena as sources of happiness, as opposed to an "inner being" (Tib: nang pa) or Buddhist who relies on the teachings of the Buddha.