The Perfection of Wisdom. The Prajnaparamita sutras are the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha in which the wisdom of emptiness and the path of the bodhisattva are set forth. These texts form the basis of Nagarjuna's philosophy. The three main Prajnaparamita texts are: the Prajnaparamita of 100,000 verses (Tib: bum; Wyl: 'bum), collected in twelve volumes; the Prajnaparamita in 25,000 verses (Tib: nyitri; Wyl: nyi khri), collected in three volumes, and the Prajnaparamita in 8,000 verses (Tib: gyetongpa; Wyl: brgyad stong pa), in one volume.

Or Pramanavarttikakarika. Dharmakirti's Commentary on Dignaga's Compendium of Valid Cognition (Pramanasamuccaya); one of five major treatises studied in Tibetan monasteries.

The Middle Way Consequence school, a sub-school of the Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy. The Consequence school accepts mere consequences known to others and does not assert true establishment even conventionally. Examples of Middle Way Consequentialists are Buddhapalita, Chandrakirti and Shantideva. See also Svatantrika Madhyamaka and the four Buddhist philosophical schools.

The various levels of individual liberation vows for lay and ordained, including the five lay vows, and the novice vows and full ordination that monks and nuns take.

A solitary realizer or self-realizer; a Hinayana practitioner who attains liberation from cyclic existence autonomously, without relying on an external teacher or teachings. Cf. shravaka.

The Solitary Realizer Vehicle. One of the branches of the Hinayana. The path of solitary realizers (pratyekabuddhas), practitioners who attain liberation from cyclic existence autonomously without relying on an external teacher or teachings. See also Shravakayana.

See five lay vows.