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 Please see our Content Disclaimer regarding English terms in LYWA publications that may be outdated and should be considered in context.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

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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.

four powerful Dharmakaya Relic mantras

Four mantras placed in holy objects such as stupas. Simply circumambulating an object containing these mantras purifies the karma to be reborn in the hot hells. They are: the most precious heart mantra of stainless beam, the most precious mantra of secret relic, the most precious mantra of ornament of enlightenment and the very precious root mantra of stainless pinnacle.