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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.
Sacred word of honor; the pledges and commitments made by a disciple at an initiation to keep tantric vows for life or to perform certain practices connected with the deity, such as daily sadhana recitation, or offering the Guru Puja on the tenth and the twenty-fifth of each Tibetan month.
One of 32 deities from the Guhyasamaja mandala, a Highest Yoga Tantra practice. This practice purifies broken samaya in relation to one’s spiritual guide.
The enjoyment body; the form in which the enlightened mind appears in order to benefit highly realized bodhisattvas. See also five certainties, dharmakaya, nirmanakaya, rupakaya, two kayas, three kayas and four kayas.
Early non-Buddhist philosophical school; the so-called "enumerators," because they advocate a definite enumeration of the causes that produce existents.
Cyclic existence; the six realms of conditioned existence, three lower—hell, hungry ghost (Skt: preta), and animal—and three upper—human, demigod (Skt: asura), and god (Skt: sura). The beginningless, recurring cycle of death and rebirth under the control of delusion and karma, fraught with suffering. Also refers to the contaminated aggregates of a sentient being.
See buddha.
Spiritual community; the third of the Three Jewels of Refuge. In Tibetan gen dun literally means intending (dun) to virtue (ge). Absolute Sangha are those who have directly realized emptiness; relative Sangha refers to a group of at least four fully ordained monks or nuns.
A great eighth century Indian yogi; one of the 84 mahasiddhas and founders of the Vajrayana, particularly the Mahamudra tradition. He composed many famous tantric songs.
A female buddha embodying creativity and wisdom, (the Tibetan means "Melodious Lady"). Her wrathful aspect is Palden Lhamo, the chief protector of the Tibetan people.
A small town near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India; the site of Deer Park, where the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma, giving his famous discourse on the four noble truths.
The Sutra school, one of the two main Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) philosophical schools. The Sutra school accepts both self-knowers and external objects. See also the four Buddhist philosophical schools.
The Sutra Middle Way Autonomy school, a division of the Svatantrika (Autonomy school) of Buddhist philosophy. The proponent asserts a presentation of conventionalities through mostly conforming with the Sautrantika (Sutra school). Examples of Sutra Middle Way Autonomists are Bhavaviveka and Jnanagarbha. See also Yogacara-Svatantrika-Madhyamaka and the four Buddhist philosophical schools.
