Difference between revisions of "Awareness"

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[[rgyal ba 'od dpag med]] - Buddha Amitabha [RY]
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Awareness ([[rig pa]])
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*The Tibetan term [[rig pa]] in its verbal sense means "to know", or "to be aware". When used as a noun, it has several distinct though not unrelated meanings, corresponding to the Sanskrit vidya: 1) as a general term encompassing all experiences of consciousness and mental events, 2) as intelligence or mental aptitude, 3) as a science of knowledge or epistemology, 4) as a pure awareness. According to the Great Perfection ([[rdzogs pa chen po]]), the term intrinsic or natural awareness ([[rang rig]]) refers to the fundamental innate mind in its natural unalloyed state of spontaneity and purity, beyond the alternating states of motion and rest. As such, "intrinsic awareness" gives the meditator access to [[buddha-mind]] (citta; Tib. [[thugs]]) itself, and it stands in direct contrast to the fundamental ignorance (avidya; Tib. [[ma rig pa]]) which is the primary cause of rebirth in cyclic existence ([[samsara]]). [[GD]] (from the Glossary to [[Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings]])
  
[[chos sku rin po che]] - Chöku Rinpoche; a precious white statue of Buddha Amitabha. It is one of the five image- emanations of Avalokiteshvara that originated miraculously from the milk lake of the Dakini Land of Kharsha ([[gar shwa]], Lahoul, in northern India). The monastery also housed the white conch and the cauldron of Naropa. These three relics were hidden when the monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and reinstalled in the new monastery rebuilt since 1981. [MR] [RY]
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*SA [[rig pa]]
 
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[[Category: Key Terms]]
[[mnyam bzhag gi phyag rgya]] - Mudra of equanimity. The hands placed in the gesture of meditation just as Buddha Amitabha [RY]
 
 
 
[[rta mgrin]] - Hayagriva. Tantric deity shown with a horse's head within his flaming hair; wrathful aspect of Buddha Amitabha. Here identical with Padma Heruka, Lotus Speech, among the Eight Sadhana Teachings [RY]
 
 
 
[[bde ba can]] - Blissful Realm, Sukhavati. The pure land of Buddha Amitabha in which a practitioner can take rebirth during the [[Bardo]] of becoming through a combination of pure faith, sufficient merit, and one-pointed determination [RY]
 
 
 
[[snang ba mtha' yas]] - Amitabha; Buddha Amitabha, Limitless Illumination Boundless Light [RY]
 

Latest revision as of 01:13, 29 June 2007

Awareness (rig pa)

  • The Tibetan term rig pa in its verbal sense means "to know", or "to be aware". When used as a noun, it has several distinct though not unrelated meanings, corresponding to the Sanskrit vidya: 1) as a general term encompassing all experiences of consciousness and mental events, 2) as intelligence or mental aptitude, 3) as a science of knowledge or epistemology, 4) as a pure awareness. According to the Great Perfection (rdzogs pa chen po), the term intrinsic or natural awareness (rang rig) refers to the fundamental innate mind in its natural unalloyed state of spontaneity and purity, beyond the alternating states of motion and rest. As such, "intrinsic awareness" gives the meditator access to buddha-mind (citta; Tib. thugs) itself, and it stands in direct contrast to the fundamental ignorance (avidya; Tib. ma rig pa) which is the primary cause of rebirth in cyclic existence (samsara). GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)