The practices that prepare the mind for successful tantric meditation by removing hindrances and accumulating merit. These practices are found in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism and are usually done 100,000 times each; the four main practices are recitation of the refuge formula, mandala offerings, prostrations and Vajrasattva mantra recitation. The Gelug tradition adds five more: guru yoga, water bowl offerings, Damtsig Dorje purifying meditation, making tsatsas and the Dorje Khadro burning offering practice.

Hungry ghost, or spirit. The preta realm is one of the three lower realms of cyclic existence.

See principal consciousness.

The main cognition posited by means of apprehending the entity of its object. Synonymous with main mind, it is one of the two divisions of mind, the other being mental factors. There are six main minds, one for each sense consciousness (eye, ear and so forth) and mental consciousness.

They are: 1) the continuation of the consciousness; 2) the result must be similar to the cause; 3) the habitual tendencies that are there at birth; and 4) the experience of those who remember previous lives.

The act of showing respect to the objects of refuge, the Guru and the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; the first of the seven-limb practice and one of the preliminary practices.

Also called “Dharma protector,” can be worldly or a manifestation of the enlightened mind who protects Buddhism and its practitioners. Often confused in prayers with the word gon which actually means savior, and refers to the guru.

Literally, offering; a religious ceremony, usually used to describe an offering ceremony such as the Offering to the Spiritual Master (Guru Puja).