The bodhisattvas’ realization that all phenomena are unproduced and empty. It sustains them on the difficult path of benefiting all beings so that they do not succumb to the goal of personal liberation. Different sources link this realization to the first or eighth bodhisattva level (bhūmi).

The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (avidyā). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote. Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.

A bodhisattva.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A “worthy one,” who has destroyed the afflictions (Skt. kleśa) and all causes for future rebirth, and who thus will reach awakening at death.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

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.

Head of the “sixteen excellent men” (ṣoḍaśasatpuruṣa), a group of householder bodhisattvas present in the audience of many sūtras. He appears prominently in certain sūtras, such as The Samādhi of the Presence of the Buddhas (Pratyutpannabuddha­saṃmukhāvasthita­samādhisūtra, Toh 133) and is perhaps also the merchant of the same name who is the principal interlocutor in The Questions of Bhadrapāla the Merchant (Toh 83).

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A bodhisattva.

A common epithet for a buddha, often rendered in English as “Blessed One.”

Literally, “awakening being”; a being on the path to awakening who has generated bodhicitta for the benefit of all beings.

Generally refers to bodhisattvas who have reached at least the seventh of the ten bodhisattva levels (bhūmis).

The path of the bodhisattvas.

A bodhisattva.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A term for an idealized, utopic vision of kingship in South Asian cultures. A cakravartin reigns over vast regions of the universe in accordance with principles of righteous law ( dharma ). Such a king is called a cakravartin because he possesses a wheel or discus (cakra) that rolls across different realms and brings them all under his power.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

An epithet of the Buddha.

One of the six root afflictions (Skt. mūlakleśa), often listed as one of the three poisons (Skt. triviṣa) along with anger (Skt. dveṣa) and delusion (Skt. moha).

In the most general sense the devas‍—the term is cognate with the English divine‍—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

The term dharma conveys ten different meanings, according to Vasubandhu’s Vyākhyā­yukti. The primary meanings are as follows: the doctrine taught by the Buddha (Dharma); the ultimate reality underlying and expressed through the Buddha’s teaching (Dharma); the trainings that the Buddha’s teaching stipulates (dharmas); the various awakened qualities or attainments acquired through practicing and realizing the Buddha’s teaching (dharmas); qualities or aspects more generally, i.e., phenomena or phenomenal attributes (dharmas); and mental objects (dharmas).

The nature of phenomena; the dimension or space (dhātu) in which phenomena ( dharma ) appear.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A set of three points associated with the nature of reality that when contemplated and integrated lead to liberation. The three are emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.

Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.

A bodhisattva.

A cosmic period of time, sometimes equivalent to the time when a world system appears, exists, and disappears. According to the traditional Abhidharma understanding of cyclical time, a great eon (mahākalpa) is divided into eighty lesser eons. In the course of one great eon, the universe takes form and later disappears. During the first twenty of the lesser eons, the universe is in the process of creation and expansion; during the next twenty it remains; during the third twenty, it is in the process of destruction; and during the last quarter of the cycle, it remains in a state of empty stasis. A fortunate, or good, eon (bhadrakalpa) refers to any eon in which more than one buddha appears.

The second of the six perfections (Skt. pāramitā).

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

The capacity of awakened beings to comprehend the inherent truth of impermanence.

A bodhisattva.

Pleasures corresponding to each of the five senses: vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”

In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.

The first of the six perfections (Skt. pāramitā).

A bodhisattva.

Pure knowledge free of conceptual impediments.

The five heinous deeds or acts that bring immediate retribution: (1) killing one’s father, (2) killing one’s mother, (3) killing an arhat, (4) drawing blood from the body of a tathāgata with malicious intent, and (5) causing schism in the saṅgha.

Indra is the Vedic king of the gods of the atmosphere or sky. Indra is included in the Buddhist pantheon as a guardian of the Dharma and the king of the deva realm.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

Various inner bodily parts and outer material things that may be requested from bodhisattvas.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

The persistent physical, mental, or emotional obstacles to spiritual progress.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A popular South Asian sweet.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

When the Buddhist teachings are classified according to their power to lead beings to an awakened state, a distinction is made between the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle (Hīnayāna), which emphasizes the individual’s own freedom from cyclic existence as the primary motivation and goal, and those of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna), which emphasizes altruism and has the liberation of all sentient beings as the principal objective. As the term “Great Vehicle” implies, the path followed by bodhisattvas is analogous to a large carriage that can transport a vast number of people to liberation, as compared to a smaller vehicle for the individual practitioner.

The name of the next buddha, “The Benevolent One,” who now abides in Tuṣita heaven as a bodhisattva, awaiting the proper time to take his final rebirth.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

The fifth of the six perfections (Skt. pāramitā).

The intention to reach unsurpassed, completely perfect awakening (Skt. anuttara­samyak­saṃbodhi) in order to liberate all beings from suffering.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

Literally, “Child of No Craving”; a name of the god Viṣṇu.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

Meaning “extinguished” in Sanskrit and “beyond suffering” in Tibetan translation, this is a term for the state of awakening.

The mode of nirvāṇa in which all physical and mental attributes have been relinquished. This mode occurs after death, as some physical and mental attributes remain when an awakened being is still alive.

The name of a bodhisattva.

The obscurations to liberation and omniscience. They are generally categorized as two types: affective obscurations (kleśāvaraṇa), the arising of afflictive emotions, and cognitive obscurations (jñeyāvaraṇa), those caused by misapprehension and incorrect understanding about the nature of reality.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

The final passage into nirvāṇa upon the death of a buddha or an arhat.

Physical, verbal, and mental activities that lead to unsalutary rebirths.

One of the meanings of the Skt. term dharma. This applies to “phenomena” or “things” in general, and, more specifically, “mental phenomena” which are the object of the mental faculty (manas, yid).

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

The regulations and rules that constitute Buddhist discipline. The number and scope of the vows differs depending on one’s status (lay, novice monastic, or full monastic) and whether one is a monk or a nun.

Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyeka­buddha is not regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.

The path of the pratyekabuddhas.

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, into which beings are born as the karmic fruition of past miserliness. As the term in Sanskrit means “the departed,” they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. It is also commonly translated as “hungry ghost” or “starving spirit,” as in the Chinese 餓鬼 e gui.They are sometimes said to reside in the realm of Yama, but are also frequently described as roaming charnel grounds and other inhospitable or frightening places along with piśācas and other such beings. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance.

One of the first Buddhist monasteries, located in a park outside Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. This park was originally owned by Prince Jeta, hence the name Jetavana, meaning Jeta’s grove. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, sought to buy it from him, but the prince, not wishing to sell, said he would only do so if Anāthapiṇḍada covered the entire property with gold coins. Anāthapiṇḍada agreed, and managed to cover all of the park except the entrance, hence the name Anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ, meaning Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. The place is usually referred to in the sūtras as “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park,” and according to the Saṃghabhedavastu the Buddha used Prince Jeta’s name in first place because that was Prince Jeta’s own unspoken wish while Anāthapiṇḍada was offering the park. Inspired by the occasion and the Buddha’s use of his name, Prince Jeta then offered the rest of the property and had an entrance gate built. The Buddha specifically instructed those who recite the sūtras to use Prince Jeta’s name in first place to commemorate the mutual effort of both benefactors. Anāthapiṇḍada built residences for the monks, to house them during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It was one of the Buddha’s main residences, where he spent around nineteen rainy season retreats, and it was therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses and events. According to the travel accounts of Chinese monks, it was still in use as a Buddhist monastery in the early fifth century ᴄᴇ, but by the sixth century it had been reduced to ruins.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A bodhisattva.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

The major river in North India and, according to Buddhist cosmology, one of the four sacred rivers that flow through the southernmost continent of Jambudvīpa.

Cumulative meritorious deeds performed by an individual throughout past lives. The most common threefold list of roots of virtue include non-greed (Skt. alobha), non-hatred (Skt. adveṣa), and non-delusion (Skt. amoha).

A common epithet of the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, meaning “the sage (muni) of the Śākya clan.” Here mentioned as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A state of deep meditative absorption. There are numerous samādhis that can be entered into and sustained by realized beings.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

The cycle of rebirth.

The “community” of ordained Buddhist monks and nuns.

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was renowned for his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise (often paired with Maudgalyā­yana, who was praised as foremost in the capacity for miraculous powers). His father, Tiṣya, to honor Śāriputra’s mother, Śārikā, named him Śāradvatīputra, or, in its contracted form, Śāriputra, meaning “Śārikā’s Son.”

A bodhisattva.

The place where every buddha in this world system will attain buddhahood. It is identified with the spot beneath the Bodhi tree in the Bodhgaya.

The absence of the conceptual identification of perceptions. One of the three doors of liberation.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

The six perfections are giving (Skt. dāna), ethical discipline (Skt. śīla), patience or acceptance (Skt. kṣānti), effort (Skt. vīrya), meditative concentration (Skt. dhyāna), and wisdom (Skt. prajñā).

The extraordinary skills of the buddhas and advanced bodhisattvas.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

The path of the śrāvakas.

During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.

A reliquary, often in the shape of a hemispherical mound that contains relics or possessions of the Buddha or a saint.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

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.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

Those who are expert in monastic discipline.

A confessional practice for mending breaches of a bodhisattva’s discipline.

The awakening of a buddha, which is superior to all other forms of awakening. According to the Mahāyāna, in anuttara­samyak­saṃbodhi, both of the two kinds of obscuration, the afflictive obscuration (Skt. kleśāvaraṇa) and the obscurations to omniscience (Skt. jñeyāvaraṇa), have been completely overcome.

An arhat who was foremost among the Buddha’s disciples in his knowledge of the monastic code of discipline ( vinaya ).

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

Vajrapāṇi means “Wielder of the Vajra.” In the Pali canon, he appears as a yakṣa guardian in the retinue of the Buddha. In the Mahāyāna scriptures he is a bodhisattva and one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha.” In the tantras, he is also regarded as an important Buddhist deity and instrumental in the transmission of tantric scriptures.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva.

“Discipline”; one of the Three Baskets (Tripiṭaka), the Vinaya is the body of literature on monastic discipline and training.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

A tathāgata mentioned here as one of the thirty-five buddhas of confession.

The sixth of the six perfections (Skt. pāramitā); the precise discernment of all things.

The absence of any conceptual goal that one is focused upon achieving. One of the three doors of liberation.

The world of Yama, the Lord of Death.

The Lord of Death, who judges the dead and rules over the hells.

A bodhisattva.

Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra in his left. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.