The clan of Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, located in present-day Nepal.

The last of the great Indian scholars to travel to Tibet. He remained in Tibet for ten years, where he taught many Buddhist texts and founded four major monastic centres in Ü and Tsang regions.

Fourth of the one thousand founding buddhas of this present world age. Born a prince of the Shakya clan in north India, he taught the sutra and tantra paths to liberation and enlightenment; founder of what came to be known as Buddhism. (From the Skt: buddha—"fully awake.")

An eighth century Indian scholar and disciple of Shantarakshita, Shakyaprabha was learned in the Vinaya (ethical discipline). He is usually thought to be one of the Two Supreme Ones.

Calm abiding; a state of concentration in which the mind is able to abide steadily, without effort and for as long as desired, on an object of meditation. There are nine stages in its development.

Eighth century Indian Buddhist philosopher and bodhisattva who propounded the Prasangika Madhyamaka (Middle Way Consequence) view. Shantideva wrote the quintessential Mahayana text, A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Skt: Bodhicarayavatara; Tib: jang chub sem pä chö pa la jug pa).

Ordained by Geshe Potowa and guru of Geshe Chekawa.

One of the two principal disciples of the Buddha, with Maudgalyayana.

The lower part of a Tibetan monk’s or nun’s robes.

A native of the Everest region of Nepal. Two famous Sherpas are Sherpa Tenzin, the first person to climb Mt. Everest, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

See shamatha.

A hearer; a Hinayana practitioner who strives for liberation from cyclic existence on the basis of listening to teachings from a teacher. There are four divisions: stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner and arhat. Each of these divisions has two stages, a developing level and a resultant level, thus there are eight levels in total. Cf. pratyekabuddha.