Guru Puja (Skt)
Lama Chöpa (Tib); bla ma mchod pa (Wyl)
A special Highest Yoga Tantra guru yoga practice composed by Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen.
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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.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
guru yoga (Skt)
lama nel jor (Tib); bla ma’i rnal ‘byor (Wyl)
In order to amass the two collections of merit and purify negativities and obscurations, one views the guru as inseparable from a deity and/or from the Buddha. There are various guru yoga practices, some are done in accordance with tantra, for example, Guru Puja, and some in accordance with the sutra tradition, for example, the Hundred Deities of the Land of Joy (Ganden Lha Gyäma).
guru-deity
The inseparability of the deity and the spiritual master; a fundamental practice of tantra.
Gyaltsab-je (1364–1432)
Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen was one of the two main disciples of Lama Tsongkhapa, with Khedrub-je. After Lama Tsongkhapa died, Gyaltsab-je became the second Ganden Tripa (spiritual head of the Gelug school). Read Gyaltsab-je’s biography in Treasury of Lives.
Gyalwa Ensapa (1505–66)
rgyal bad ben sa pa (Wyl)
A disciple of Chökyi Dorje, Gyalwa Ensapa achieved enlightenment within a few years without bearing much hardship. He was predecessor of the Panchen Lamas and a guru of Khedrub Sangye Yeshe.
Gyalwa Gyatso (Tib)
rgyal ba rgya mysho (Wyl)
Highest Yoga Tantra aspect of Avalokiteshvara.
Gyüme (Lower Tantric College)
Gyü me da tsang (Tib); rgyud smad grva tshang (Wyl)
One of the five major monasteries of the Gelug school in or around Lhasa; it was founded in 1433 by Je Sherab Senge, a disciple of Lama Tsongkhapa. Originally located in lower Central Tibet and then Lhasa, it has now been re-established in Hunsur, south India. See also Gyüto (Upper Tantric College).
Gyüto (Upper Tantric College)
gyü to dra tsang (Tib); rgyud stod grva tshang (Wyl)
Founded in 1474 by Kunga Dhondup, Gyüto is a Gelug college in south India specializing in the study of tantric meditation. See also Gyüme (Lower Tantric College).
happy transmigratory being
A samsaric being in the realms of suras, asuras or humans.
Hayagriva (Skt)
tam drin (Tib); rta mgrin (Wyl)
A tantric deity; a wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara.
Heart (of Wisdom) Sutra
prajnaparamita hrdaya (Skt)
The shortest and most recited of the Prajnaparamita sutras (Skt), literally, "perfection of wisdom," the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha in which the wisdom of emptiness and the path of the bodhisattva are set forth.
Heaven of Thirty-three
Trayastrimsha (Skt); sum chu tsa sum gyi nä (Tib); sum cu rtsa gsum gyi gnas (Wyl)
The highest of the god realm abodes in Buddhist cosmology; it is atop Mount Meru and ruled by Indra.
hell
narak (Skt); nyel wa (Tib); dmyal ba (Wyl)
The samsaric realm with the greatest suffering. There are eight hot hells, eight cold hells and four neighboring hells.
heresy
log ta (Tib); log lta (Wyl)
Also called “mistaken wrong views,” one of the five afflicted views that are part of the root afflictions. Heresy is a deluded intelligence that rejects the existence of something that exists, such as karma, reincarnation, the Three Jewels and so forth, and ascribes existence to that which is nonexistent. It is also holding incorrect views about the guru.
Heruka Chakrasamvara (Skt)
Korlo Dompa (Tib); ’khor lo sdom pa (Wyl)
Male meditational deity from the mother tantra class of Highest Yoga Tantra. He is the principal deity connected with the Heruka Vajrasattva practice and was Lama Yeshe's yidam.
higher capable being
The highest of the three levels of practice or scopes, the higher capable being has the goal of full enlightenment. See also lower and middle capable being, and the graduated path of the three capable beings.
higher realms
The higher realms comprise the more fortunate rebirths as a human, god or demi-god. See also the six realms.
Highest Yoga Tantra
Anuttara Yoga Tantra (Skt); la na mä pä gyü (Tib); bla na med pa’i rgyud (Wyl)
The fourth and supreme division of tantric practice, sometimes called Maha-anuttara Yoga Tantra. It consists of the generation and completion stages. Through this practice, one can attain full enlightenment within one lifetime. See also the four classes of tantra.
Hinayana (Skt)
theg mäen (Tib); theg dman (Wyl)
Literally, Small, or Lesser, Vehicle. It is one of the two general divisions of Buddhism. The Hinayana practitioner's motivation for following the Dharma path is principally the intense wish for personal liberation from conditioned existence, or samsara. Two types of Hinayana practitioner are identified: the hearer (Skt: shravaka) and the solitary realizer (Skt: pratyekabuddha). Cf Mahayana; see also Theravada.
Hundred Deities of Tushita
gan den lha gyä ma (Tib) dga' ldan lha brgya'i ma (Wyl)
Ganden Lha Gyäma or Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, a practice performed daily in Gelug monasteries. Note: Land of Joy, Ganden (Tib) and Tushita (Skt) are synonymous. See also guru yoga.
hungry ghost
preta (Skt); yi dag (Tib); yi dwags (Wyl)
The hungry ghost realm is one of the three lower realms of cyclic existence, exemplied by incredible insatiable hunger and thirst.
ignorance
avidya (Skt); ma rig pa (Tib); ma rig pa (Wyl)
Literally, “not seeing” that which exists, or the way in which things exist. There are basically two kinds, ignorance of karma and ignorance of ultimate truth. Ignorance is the fundamental delusion from which all others spring, and is the first of the twelve links of dependent origination.
illusory body
gyu lu (Tib); sgyu lus (Wyl)
A subtle body generated through practice of the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra; the cause of the rupakaya.
impermanence
anitya (Skt); mi tag pa (Tib); mi rtag pa (Wyl)
The gross and subtle levels of the transience of phenomena. The moment things and events come into existence, their disintegration has already begun.
imprint
vasana (Skt); pag cha (Tib); bag chags (Wyl)
The seed, or potential, left on the mind by positive or negative actions of body, speech and mind.
incarnate lama
See tulku.
indestructible drop
mi nä pä tig le (Tib); mi gnas pa’i thig le (Wyl)
The subtle drop at the center of the heart chakra where the very subtle consciousness resides. Originating from the father's red drop and the mother's white one, it consists of two halves, which split at the moment of death to release the very subtle consciousness.
individual liberation
The liberation achieved by the hearer (Skt: shravaka) or the solitary realizer (Skt: pratyekabuddha) within the Theravada tradition, as compared to enlightenment achieved by a practitioner of the Mahayana tradition.
Indra
A powerful Hindu deity in the god realm.
inherent (or intrinsic) existence
rang zhin gyi drub pa (Tib); rang bzhin gyis grub pa (Wyl)
What phenomena are empty of; the object of negation, or refutation. To ignorance, phenomena appear to exist independently or inherently, in and of themselves. See also: emptiness.
initiation
abhisheka (Skt); wang(Tib); dbang (Wyl)
Transmission received from a tantric master allowing a disciple to engage in the practices of a particular meditational deity. It is also referred to as an empowerment. Tantric masters willl also often give a jenang, which is permission to practice a particular deity, rather than a full empowerment.
