The buddha residing in the western buddha realm of Sukhāvatī, he is also sometimes known as Amitābha.

One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.

In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

The Tibetan translates both stūpa and caitya with the same word, mchod rten, meaning “basis” or “recipient” of “offerings” or “veneration.” Pali: cetiya.A caitya, although often synonymous with stūpa, can also refer to any site, sanctuary or shrine that is made for veneration, and may or may not contain relics.A stūpa, literally “heap” or “mound,” is a mounded or circular structure usually containing relics of the Buddha or the masters of the past. It is considered to be a sacred object representing the awakened mind of a buddha, but the symbolism of the stūpa is complex, and its design varies throughout the Buddhist world. Stūpas continue to be erected today as objects of veneration and merit making.

The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings‍—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula‍—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.

A secret palace in Sukhāvatī.

A speaker, reciter, or preacher of the Buddhist scriptures or teachings.

A goddess.

A ritual manual.

A goddess.

A goddess.

A goddess.

Small images of caityas, deities, and the like, made from clay. More commonly translated into Tibetan as tsha tsha.

A Tibetan teacher and author active in the thirteenth century, associated with Tharpa Lotsāwa and best known for his historical works, although he also appears in some lineage records for the transmission of the Pratimokṣa vows, as suggested in the colophon of this text. Also known as Nelpa Paṇḍita Drakpa Mönlam Lodrö (nel pa paN+Di ta grags pa smon lam blo gros).

A Tibetan translator active at the monastery of Tharpa Ling in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, also widely known as Tharpa Lotsāwa (thar pa lo tsA ba). He was one of the teachers of Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub) and translated a number of tantric works in the Kangyur and Tengyur as well as a set of sūtras from the Theravāda tradition.

In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.

Here the classical set of sixteen types of emptiness described in many Mahāyāna philosophical texts corresponds to a group of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas. The sixteen are listed as (1) inner emptiness, (2) outer emptiness, (3) outer and inner emptiness, (4) the emptiness of emptiness, (5) ultimate emptiness, (6) the emptiness of compounded phenomena, (7) the emptiness of uncompounded phenomena, (8) beginningless and endless emptiness, (9) the emptiness of nonrejection, (10) natural emptiness, (11) the emptiness of all phenomena, (12) the emptiness of own-characteristics, (13) the emptiness of the unobserved, (14) the emptiness of nonentities, (15) the emptiness of own-essence, and (16) the emptiness of own-essence of nonentities.

Traditionally, five substances derived from a cow and used for ritual purposes: dung, urine, butter, yogurt, and milk.

Amitāyus’ pure realm.

A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha­(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

One of the thirty-two signs, or major marks, of a great being. In its simplest form it is a pointed shape of the head like a turban (the Sanskrit term, uṣṇīṣa, in fact means “turban”), or more elaborately a dome-shaped extension. The extension is described as having various extraordinary attributes such as emitting and absorbing rays of light or reaching an immense height.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

The central figure of the maṇḍala surrounded by a group of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of eight uṣṇīṣa buddhas mentioned in this text that do not appear elsewhere in the canon.

One among a list of sixteen uṣṇīṣa buddhas named after the sixteen emptinesses.

A goddess. See Introduction.

A goddess.

A goddess.

A goddess.

A goddess.

One of the standard epithets of the buddhas. A recurrent explanation offers three different meanings for su- that are meant to show the special qualities of “accomplishment of one’s own purpose” (svārthasampad) for a complete buddha. Thus, the Sugata is “well” gone, as in the expression su-rūpa (“having a good form”); he is gone “in a way that he shall not come back,” as in the expression su-naṣṭa-jvara (“a fever that has utterly gone”); and he has gone “without any remainder” as in the expression su-pūrṇa-ghaṭa (“a pot that is completely full”). According to Buddhaghoṣa, the term means that the way the Buddha went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su) and where he went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su).