This glossary contains an alphabetical list of Buddhist terms that you may find on this website. Many of the terms now include phoneticized Sanskrit (Skt) as well as two forms of Tibetan—the phonetic version (Tib), which is a guide to pronunciation, and transliteration using the Wylie method (Wyl). Search for the term you want by entering it in the search box or browse through the listing by clicking on the letters below. Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.

Glossary terms for "D"

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z

Dagpo Rinpoche

Jampel Lhundrup. Pabongka Rinpoche's root guru for lamrim teachings; author of the Jorchö text A Necklace for the Fortunate; his reincarnation has lived in France for many years.

daka (Skt)

kha dro (Tib); mkha’ ’gro (Wyl)

Literally, a "sky-goer." A male being who helps arouse blissful energy in a qualified tantric practitioner.

dakini (Skt)

kha dro ma (Tib); mkha’ ’gro ma (Wyl)

Literally, a "female sky-goer." A female being who helps arouse blissful energy in a qualified tantric practitioner.

Dalai Lama (b. 1935)

Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso. Revered spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and tireless worker for world peace; winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989; a guru of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Darma Dodé

The eldest son of Marpa, he died at a young age and returned as the Indian brahmin Paravatapada or Tiphupa, who became important for the future of the Kagyü lineage in Tibet.

definitive meaning

nitartha (Skt); ngedön (Tib); nges don (Wyl)

One of two main ways of understanding a Dharma teaching, this one is where the content is be taken literally and not open for interpretation, as opposed to the interpretive meaning.

degenerate time, or age

kaliyuga (Skt); nyigme dü (Tib); snyigs ma'i dus (Wyl)

We’re living in one! It has five characteristics: short life spans, scarce means of subsistence, mental afflictions, strong wrong views and weak sentient beings.

deity

ishtadevata (Skt); yidam (Tib); yi dam (Wyl)

An emanation of the enlightened mind, the meditational deity used as the object of meditation in tantric practices.

delusion

klesha (Skt); nyon mong (Tib); nyon mongs (Wyl)

An obscuration covering the essentially pure nature of the mind, causing suffering and dissatisfaction; the main delusion is ignorance and all the others come from this. See also the three poisons, the root delusions and secondary delusions.

demigod

asura (Skt); lha ma yin (Tib); lha ma yin (Wyl)

See asura.

Denma Lochö Rinpoche (1928-2014)

Born in Kham, Tibet, this learned lama studied at Drepung Loseling Monastery and was abbot of His Hoiness' Namgyal Monastery from 1986 to 1991. He is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's gurus.

dependent origination

pratityasamutpada (Skt); ten drel (Tib); rten ‘brel (Wyl)

Also called dependent arising. The way that the self and phenomena exist conventionally as relative and interdependent. They come into existence in dependence upon: 1) causes and conditions; 2) their parts; and, most subtly, 3) the mind imputing, or labeling, them. See also twelve links.

deva (Skt)

lha (Tib); lha (Wyl)

A god existing in a state with much comfort and pleasure in the desire, form or formless realms.

Devadatta

Lha jin (Tib); lhas byin (Wyl)

Shakyamuni Buddha’s cousin, who was jealous of Buddha and constantly tried to harm him.

Dhammapada (Pali)

Udanavarga (Skt); ched du brjod pa’i tshoms (Wyl)

A popular collection of sayings of the Buddha originally found in the Pali Canon. The Tibetan Dhammapada or Compilations of Indicative Verse was translated into English by Gareth Sparham and first published by Mahayana Publications, New Delhi, in 1983.

Dharamsala

A village in the north-west of India, in Himachal Pradesh. The residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile.

dharani

zung (Tib); gzungs (Wyl)

The term dharani is from a Sanskrit root word that means “to hold or maintain.” Dharanis contain the essence of a teaching and are often compared to mantras, however, they are longer than mantras and are more likely to have intelligible phrases, like sutras. They are said to have the power to heal and protect from harm. Zungdu (Wyl: gzungs bsdus), a collection of dharanis found in the Kangyur, is often recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Dhargyey, Geshe Ngawang (1921–95)

A tutor to many Gelugpa tulkus and resident teacher at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India, before leaving to establish his own centers in New Zealand, where he passed away.

Dharma (Skt)

chö (Tib); chos (Wyl)

The second refuge jewel. Literally, “that which is established” but generally etymologized as “that which holds or protects (us from suffering)” and hence brings happiness and leads us towards liberation and enlightenment. In Buddhism, absolute Dharma is the realizations attained along the path to liberation and enlightenment, and conventional Dharma is seen as both the teachings of the Buddha and virtuous actions.

dharmadhatu wisdom

dharmadhatu-jnana (Skt); chö kyi ying kyi yeshe (Tib); chos kyi dbyings kyi ye shes (Wyl)

One of the five transcendental wisdoms, the wisdom that apprehends the nature of phenomena. The other wisdoms are: mirror-like wisdom, wisdom of equality, all-accomplishing wisdom and wisdom of analysis.

dharmakaya (Skt)

truth body; chö ku (Tib); chos sku (Wyl)

The ultimate reality of a buddha’s enlightened mind, which is unborn, empty of true existence, free from conceptual thought, naturally radiant, beyond duality and spacious like the sky. One of the three embodiments of a buddha. Dharmakaya can be divided into the jnanakaya or wisdom body (the blissful omniscient mind of a buddha) and svabhavikakaya or nature body (the emptiness of the buddha's mind). See also rupakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya, two kayas, three kayas and four kayas.

Dharmakirti

chökyi dragpa (Tib); chos kyi grags pa (Wyl)

A seventh-century Indian scholar and author of Seven Treatises of Valid Cognition. He is one of six great Indian scholars, known as the Six Ornaments.

Dharmarakshita (Skt)

An eleventh-century Indian scholar, a guru of Atisha and author of the mind training text The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, also known as The Wheel Weapon Striking at the Vital Points of the Enemy.

Diamond Cutter Sutra

Arya vajra-chedika prajnaparamita mahayanasutra (Skt); pak pa she rab pa röl tu chin pa dor je chö pa she ja tek pa chen pö do (Tib)

Also known as the Diamond Sutra or Vajra Cutter Sutra, one of the most popular of the Prajnaparamita, or Perfection of Wisdom sutras. The Tibetan title is often abbreviated to Dorje Chöpa.

Dignaga

Choglang (Tib); phyogs glang (Wyl)

A sixth-century Indian scholar and disciple of Vasubandhu, Dignaga composed the Compendium of Valid Cognition (Skt: Pramana-samuccaya). He is one of six great Indian scholars, known as the Six Ornaments.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910–91)

A great scholar and author of many popular works such as Enlightened Courage: An Explanation of Atisha's Seven-Point Mind Training and The Excellent Path to Enlightenment, Rinpoche was the head of the Nyingma school from 1987 until his death in Bhutan in 1991.

dingwa (Tib)

ding ba (Wyl)

Cloth meditation seat cover used by the Sangha.

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