Glossary
Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language
This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.
This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.
This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.
The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.
This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.
This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.
This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.
g.1
Akaniṣṭha
Wylie: ’og min
Tibetan: འོག་མིན།
Sanskrit: akaniṣṭha
The eighth and highest level of the realm of form (rūpadhātu, gzugs khams), and thus part of the world of the Brahmā gods (brahmaloka, gtsang ris); it is only accessible as the result of specific states of dhyāna. According to some texts this is where non-returners (anāgāmin) dwell in their last lives. In other texts it is the realm of the enjoyment body (saṃbhogakāya, longs spyod rdzogs pa’i sku) and is a buddhafield associated with the Buddha Vairocana; it is accessible only to bodhisattvas on the tenth level.(See also n.9).
g.2
Ākāśagarbha
Wylie: nam mkha’i snying po
Tibetan: ནམ་མཁའི་སྙིང་པོ།
Sanskrit: ākāśagarbha
An important bodhisattva, his name means “essence of space.” He is one of the “eight great close sons” (aṣṭamahopaputra, nye ba’i sras chen brgyad).
g.3
clear understanding
Wylie: ’du shes
Tibetan: འདུ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit: saṃjñā
The term is used in an ordinary sense in Sanskrit to mean “notion,” “sign,” “conception,” or “clear understanding.” It is also used more specifically in Buddhist scholastic contexts in the phrase “the aggregate of perceptions” (saṃjñāskandha).
g.4
cultivate
Wylie: bsgom pa
Tibetan: བསྒོམ་པ།
Sanskrit: bhāvanā
g.5
definitive meaning
Wylie: nges don
Tibetan: ངེས་དོན།
Sanskrit: nitārtha
g.6
Five Royal Sūtras
Wylie: rgyal po mdo lnga
Tibetan: རྒྱལ་པོ་མདོ་ལྔ།
(1) Bhadracaryāpraṇidhāna (bzang spyod smon lam, Toh 1095), for aspiration (smon lam), and described as vast (rgya chen); (2) Vajravidāraṇādhāraṇī (rdo rje rnam ’joms, Toh 750), for ablution (khrus); (3) Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya (shes rab snying po, Toh 21 and 531), for the view (lta ba), and described as profound (zab mo); (4) Atyayajñāna (’da’ ka ye shes, Toh 122), for cultivation (sgom pa) and described as of definitive meaning (nges don); and (5) bya ba ltung bshags (part of Vinayaviniścayopāliparipṛcchā, Toh 68), for purification of karmic obscurations (las sgrib dag pa).
g.7
Five Sets of One Hundred Thousand
Wylie: ’bum sde lnga, ’bum chen sde lnga
Tibetan: འབུམ་སྡེ་ལྔ།, འབུམ་ཆེན་སྡེ་ལྔ།
(1) The long Prajñāpāramitā (Toh 8), which contains 100,000 ślokas; (2) the Mahāparinirvāṇa (Toh 119–120), which contains 100,000 testaments given by the Buddha at the time of his parinirvāṇa; (3) the Ratnakūṭa (Toh 45–93), which contains 100,000 distinct names of the Buddha; (4) the Avataṃsaka (Toh 44), which contains 100,000 aspirations; and (5) the Laṅkāvatāra (Toh 107–108), which contains 100,000 discourses that are ways of subjugating the rākṣasas. These five sets of 100,000 features are also said to correspond to the Buddha’s body, speech, mind, qualities, and activities, respectively.
g.8
luminous
Wylie: ’od gsal
Tibetan: འོད་གསལ།
Sanskrit: prabhāsvara
g.9
nonapprehension
Wylie: mi dmigs pa, dmigs pa med pa
Tibetan: མི་དམིགས་པ།, དམིགས་པ་མེད་པ།
g.10
subsumed
Wylie: ’dus pa
Tibetan: འདུས་པ།
g.11
Ten Royal Sūtras
Wylie: rgyal po mdo bcu
Tibetan: རྒྱལ་པོ་མདོ་བཅུ།
In addition to the Five Royal Sūtras: (6) Aparimitāyurjñāna (tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i mdo, Toh 674), for extending longevity (tshe bsring); (7) gos sngon can gyi gzungs, perhaps Bhagavānnīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇitantra (Toh 498) but possibly another of the several texts on this form of Vajrapāṇi, for protection (srung ba); (8) Uṣṇīṣasitātapatrā (gtsug tor gdugs dkar, Toh 590, 591, and 592), for averting (zlog pa); (9) Vasudhāra (nor rgyun ma, Toh 663 and 664), for increasing resources (longs spyod spel ba); and (10) Ekākṣarīmātāprajñāpāramitā (sher phyin yi ge gcig ma, Toh 23), for the essence (snying po).
g.12
wisdom at the hour of death
Wylie: ’da’ ka ye shes
Tibetan: འདའ་ཀ་ཡེ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit: atyayajñāna