Glossary from Empowerment

Glossary from Tsele Natsok Rangdröl's Empowerment

• Aryadeva ('phags pa'i lha). One of the important Buddhist philosophers of India and a disciple of Nagarjuna whose writings he explained extensively.
• Barawa (chos rje 'ba' ra ba rgyal mtshan bzang po) (1310-1391). Disciple of Zurphugpa, Shuksebpa and Kodragpa Sönam Gyaltsen.
• Bodongpa (bo dong pa). Recognized as a separate school after the great pandita Chokley Namgyal (1375-1451) who authored one hundred volumes and is known as the most prolific writer in Tibetan history.
• Butön (bu ston) (1290-1364). Fourteenth century Tibetan scholar and historian; early compiler of the Kangyur, the Buddhist Canon.
• Charya (spyod pa). The second of the four sections of tantras according to the Sarma schools.
• Dhuti Skt. The central channel.
• Dignaga Skt., (phyogs glang). Fifth century author of Abhidharma Kosha. Disciple of Vasubandhu, famed for his contributions to pramana, logic and epistemology. Counted among the Six Ornaments which Beautify Jambudvipa, he is the holder of the transmission of valid cognition, which brings an end to confusion about meaning.
• Düpado ('dus pa'i mdo). The main scripture of Anu Yoga. Consists of 75 chapters and is also known as Do Gongpa Düpa (mdo dgongs pa 'dus pa) or Kündü Rigpey Do (kun 'dus rig pa'i mdo).
• Entrustments (bka' gtad). Short empowerment ritual, usually for receiving the blessings of the body, speech and mind of the deity.
• Ewam Skt. These two syllables represent the union of emptiness and compassion, emptiness and bliss, or means and knowledge.
• Five kinds of wrong livelihood (log 'tsho lnga). Hypocrisy, flattery, soliciting, expropriating, and calculated generosity.
• Five Stages (rim lnga). The system of practical application of the Father Tantras especially taught by Nagarjuna and his two spiritual sons, Aryadeva and Chandrakirti. They consist of the three solitudes of body, speech and mind; illusory body, and unity.
• Four types of right discrimination (so so yang dag rig pa bzhi). The right discrimination of definitive words, meaning, phenomena, and courageous eloquence.
• Ganachakra, feast offering (tshogs kyi 'khor lo). A feast assembly performed by Vajrayana practitioners to accumulate merit and purify the sacred commitments (samayas).
• Garwang Chökyi Drakpa (gar dbang chos kyi grags pa). Probably identical with Chen-ngawa Chökyi Drakpa (spyan snga chos kyi grags pa), the fourth Shamar Rinpoche (1453-1524]]), a disciple of the Seventh Karmapa, Chödrak Gyamtso.
• Geshe (dge bshes). 1) A spiritual teacher according to the Mahayana teachings. 2) A learned teacher according to the Kadam and Gelug traditions.
• Geshe Cha-yulwa (dge bshes bya yul ba). (1075-1138]]). Also known as Shönnu Ö (gzhon nu 'od), this early master in the Kadam lineage was one of the teachers of Gampopa, the great Kagyü master.
• Guru Chöwang (gu ru chos dbang). One of the Five Tertön Kings. (1212-1270). For details, see the H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche's The Nyingma School, Wisdom Publications.
• Gyalsey Togmey (rgyal sras thogs med). Also known as Gyalsey Ngülchu Togmey Zangpo (1295-1369), this master of the Sakya tradition is famous for his 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva.
• Gyalwa Götsangpa (rgyal ba rgod tshang pa). (1189-1258). Literally, 'Vulture Nest Dweller.' A great master in the early Drukpa Kagyü lineage; also known as Gönpo Dorje (mgon po rdo rje). A rebirth of Jetsun Milarepa. Among his many disciples were Orgyenpa and Gyalwa Yang-Gönpa.
• Gyalwa Yang-Gönpa (rgyal ba yang dgon pa). (1213-1287). A master of the Drukpa Kagyü School; disciple of Götsangpa.
• Jonangpa (jo nang). The lineage of masters of the Shentong School who were known by their monastery at Jomo Nang. They include Yumo Mikyö Dorje, the founder of the school, Tukje Tsöndrü, Dölpowa Sherab Gyaltsen and Taranatha.
• Karma Mipham Gönpo (karma mi pham mgon po). See Mipham Gönpo.
• Khyungpo Naljor (khyung po rnal 'byor). (1002-1064). A Tibetan master who brought teachings back from India that were later known as the Shangpa Kagyu. Disciple of the female siddha Niguma.
• King Lhasey (rgyal po lha sras) (9th Century). The second son of King Trisong Deutsen.
• Klesha Skt., (nyon mong). Disturbing emotions that agitate one's mind and obscure the buddha nature.
• Kodragpa (ko brag pa) (1181-1261). Also known as Sönam Gyaltsen, founder of the Kodrag Monastery in the Upper Nyang area of the Tsang province in Central Tibet. He was a great nonsecterian master and is counted among the teachers of Yang-Gonpa.
• Kyobpa Rinpoche (skyb pa rin po che). (1143-1217). Disciple of Phagmo Drupa who founded the Drigung Kagyü School. Also known as Kyobpa Jigten Gönpo Rinchen Pal (skyob pa 'jig rten mgon po rin chen dpal).
• Lingje Repa (gling rje ras pa). (1128-1188). A great master in the early lineage of the Drukpa Kagyu School; also known as Lingchen Repa Pema Dorje (gling chen ras pa pad ma rdo rje). He was a disciple of Phagmo Drupa and the teacher of Tsangpa Gyare.
• Lorepa (lo re pa). (1187-1250). A great master of the Drukpa Kagyü school. He is also known as Wangchuk Tsöndrü (dbang phyug brtson 'grus).
• Lower sections of Secret Mantra. The Three Outer Tantras: Kriya, Charya/Upa, and Yoga Tantra.
• Mending-purification (gso sbyong). A ritual for mending vows and purifying breaches.
• Mipham Gönpo (mi pham mgon po). Identical to Bomting Chöje Miphampa, the incarnate lama who requested the teachings presented in this book. A great master of the Drukpa Kagyü lineage.
• Nyangben Tingdzin Zangpo (nyang dben ting 'dzin bzang po). A close disciple of Vimalamitra and Guru Rinpoche, (Padmasambhava).
• Orgyenpa alias Druptob Orgyenpa Rinchen Pal (grub thob o rgyan pa rin chen dpal) (1230-1309). A disciple of Gyalwa Götsangpa Gönpo Dorje and Karma Pakshi, the second Karmapa (1204-1283). He travelled to the terrestrial pure land Uddiyana where he met Vajra Varahi who transmitted to him the Urgyen Nyendrub. Teacher of Gyalwa Yang-Gönpa as well as the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje.
• Pal Kachöpa (dpal mkha' spyod pa). Propably identical with Kachö Wangpo, the second Shamar Rinpoche (1350-1405).
• Practice Lineage (sgrub brgyud). The lineage of teachings and masters where emphasis is placed on one's personal experience of the teachings as opposed to the scholastic lineage of expounding the scriptures (bshad brgyud). This phrase also refers to the Eight Great Chariots of the Practice Lineage (sgrub brgyud shing rta brgyad), the eight schools of Buddhism that flourished in Tibet: Nyingma, Kadam, Marpa Kagyü, Shangpa Kagyü, Sakya, Jordruk, Nyendrub, Shije and Chö. Today only the first five survive as independent lineages.
• Safeguard-ransoms. A ceremony in which evil spirits are given an effigy of the afflicted person.
• Saha world (mi mjed kyi 'jig rten gyi khams). The name of our present world system. Saha means 'enduring' because the sentient beings here endure unbearable suffering. Saha can also mean 'undivided' because the karmas and kleshas, causes and effects, are not separately divided or differentiated.
• Sautrantika (mdo sde pa). A Hinayana school of philosophy and the second of the four major Buddhist Schools known for its reliance on the sutras rather than Abhidharma.
• Sevenfold posture of Vairochana (rnam snang chos bdun). This positon is described as the legs in full lotus, the spine straight, the shoulders broadened, the neck slightly bent, the hands in the gesture of equanimity, the tip of tongue touching the palate, and the gaze placed in the direction of the nose.
• Six Unions (sbyor drug). One of the Eight Great Chariots of the Practice Lineage embodying the pith instruction for the practice of Kalachakra.
• Superknowledges (mngon shes). Divine sight, divine hearing, recollection of former lives, cognition of the minds of others, capacity for performing miracles, and, in the case of accomplished practitioners, the 'cognition of the exhaustion of defilements.'
• Thread-crosses (mdos). A tantric ritual involving structures of sticks with colored yarn used to appease mundane spirits.
• Tsangpa Gyarey (gtsang pa rgya ras) (1161-1211). Early master in the Drukpa Kagyü lineage, also known as Yeshe Dorje (ye shes rdo rje). Chief disciple of Lingje Repa and founder of Druk Gönpa after which Drukpa Kagyü got its name. It was during his time that a saying appeared, “Half the people are Drukpas, half the Drukpas are mendicant beggars, and half the mendicants are siddhas.”
• Tsuglag Trengwa (gtsug la 'phreng ba) (1504-1566). The second Pawo Rinpoche. Disciple of the Mikyö Dorje, the eighth Karmapa, known for his writings on astrology and religious history.
• Twelve sections of Sutra. These are also known as the twelve aspects of excellent speech (gsung rab yan lag bcu gnyis) and are the twelve main divisions of the Buddhist Canon: General Discourses (mdo sde); Proclamations in Song (dbyangs su bsnyad pa); Prophecies (lung du bstan pa); Poetic Pronouncements (tshigs su bcad pa); Special Aphorisms (mched du brjod pa); Declarations (gleng gzhi); Narratives (rtogs pa brjod pa); Parables (de lta bu byung ba); Succession of Former Lives (skyes pa'i rabs); Extensive Sayings (shin tu rgyas pa'i sde); Marvels (rmad du byung ba); Established Doctrines (gtan la dbab pa).
• Two Segments (brtag gnyis). The condensed version of the Hevajra Tantra.
• Vaibhashika (bye brag smra ba). One of the two main Hinayana schools of philosophy. It is based on the Abhidharma teachings compiled in the Mahavidhasa, the treatise known as the Great Treasury of Detailed Exposition (bye brag bshad mdzod chen mo).
• Vimalamitra (dri med bshes gnyen). A Great Perfection master who was invited to Tibet by King Trisong Deutsen. One of the three main forefathers of the Great Perfection teachings, especially Nyingtig, in Tibet.
• Virupa Skt. Indian siddha; founder of the lineage brought to Tibet by Drogmi Lotsawa ('brog mi lo tsa ba) in the eleventh century, now renowned as the Sakya (sa skya) School. He is also counted among the teachers of Atisha and Dombi Heruka.
• Yamantaka Skt. Tantric deity; the heruka of the vajra family and wrathful form of Manjushri.
• Yang Gönpa. See Gyalwa Yang-Gönpa.
• Zhang Rinpoche (zhang rin po che). See Zhang Tshalpa.