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≫ naga (Sanskrit: नाग, IAST: nāga; Tibetan: ཀླུ་, lu; Wylie: klu; Chinese: 龍, pinyin: lóng, literally “dragon”) = a race of long-lived supernatural serpent beings who guard great treasure and protect the Dharma. In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the nagas are a semi-divine race of half-human half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala) and can occasionally take human form. They live beneath the surface of the earth or in the water, and in trees or rocks, and are believed to be endowed with magical powers and wealth, as well as being responsible for certain types of illnesses (Tibetan: ཀླུ་ནད་, Wylie: klu nad, literally “leprosy, boils, sores”). In Indian mythology they are preyed on by the garudas. The naga tradition comes from the ancient snake cults of India, which probably date back to the Indus valley civilisation and were assimilated into Buddhism at an early date. In the Chinese tradition, naga is translated as “dragon” and nagas are represented using traditional Chinese dragon imagery. The two chief disciples of the Buddha, Shariputra and Maudgalyayana are both referred to as Mahānāga or “Great naga”. Some of the most important Buddhist masters symbolize nagas in their names, such as Dignaga (5th century CE, one of the founders of Buddhist logic), Nagasena (2nd century BCE, a Sarvastivadan Buddhist sage), and Nagarjuna (2nd-3rd century CE, the founder of the Madhyamaka). Muchalinda is a naga king who protected Gautama Buddha from a huge rainstorm after his enlightenment, as depicted in images of the Buddha seated in meditation under a seven-headed snake.10.
• see also: Sagaranagarajaparipraccha (“The Questions of the Naga King Sagara”, a Mahayana sutra)
• external links: (naga): wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki / Himalayan Art ; (Muchalinda): wikipedia / Metropolitan Museum of Art
≫ Nagananda (Sanskrit: नागानन्द; IAST: nāgānanda; Tibetan: ཀླུ་ཀུན་ཏུ་དགའ་བའི་ཟློས་གར་, lu kün tu gawé dö gar; Wylie: klu kun tu dga’ ba’i zlos gar) = the Sanskrit play “Joy of the serpents” (DJKR: “The play that makes the nagas happy”), attributed to King Harshavardhana (c. 590-647 CE), translated into Tibetan by Shongton Dorje Gyaltsen, available online as TBRC work W21861.
• see also: naga (supernatural serpent beings)
• external links: wikipedia
≫ Nagarjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, IAST: nāgārjuna; Tibetan: ཀླུ་གྲུབ་, ludrup; Wylie: klu grub ; Chinese: 龍樹, pinyin: Lóngshù) (c. 150-250 CE), 2nd/3rd century Indian Buddhist philosopher, founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism. His text “Root Verses on the Middle Way” (Mulamadhyamakakarika) is considered the most influential Madhyamaka text. Commentaries on the Mulamadhyamakakarika by his student Aryadeva and the later Indian masters Buddhapalita, Bhaviveka and Chandrakirti led to the establishment of the two traditions of Prasangika and Svatantrika within the Madhyamaka.
• see also: madhyamaka (middle way); Mulamadhyamakakarika (The Root Verses on the Middle Way by Nagarjuna); naga (supernatural serpent beings)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki / Digital Dictionary of Buddhism / Himalayan Art
nagpa (Tibetan: སྔགས་པ་, Wylie: sngags pa) = redirects to ngakpa.
≫ Nairañjana (Sanskrit: नैरञ्जना, IAST: Nairañjanā ; Pāli: Neranjara ; Chinese: 尼連禪, pinyin: Níliánchán) = The river beside which prince Siddhartha Gautama practiced asceticism for six years (ten or twelve years according to some accounts) on the banks of the river, residing in a forest near the village of Urubilva (Sanskrit: उरुबिल्वा, IAST: Urubilvā, also known as Uruvilvāgrāma ; Chinese: 優樓頻螺聚落, pinyin: Yōulóupínluó jùluò). After realizing that strict asceticism would not lead to Enlightenment, he recuperated after bathing in the river and receiving a bowl of milk-rice from the milkmaid Sujata. He then went to sit under the nearby Bodhi Tree until attaining enlightenment. The river flows through the Indian states of Jharkhand and Bihar, and is known today as the Lilājan River (also known as Nīlājan).
• external links: wikipedia / Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia / Wisdom Library
≫ nakdzi (Tibetan: གནག་རྫི་, nakdzi; Wylie: gnag rdzi; Dzongkha: ཝ་དི་པ་, wadipa) = cowherd.
≫ Nalanda (Sanskrit: नालन्दा, IAST: Nālandā; Tibetan: ནཱ་ལེནྡྲ་; Wylie: nA len+dra) = The university of Nalanda was the largest and most famous of the ancient Indian monastic universities, and was one of the greatest centres of learning in the world from the 5th to the 12th centuries CE. It was an ancient Mahavihara (great vihara), a revered Buddhist monastery and renowned centre of learning in the ancient kingdom of Magadha (modern-day Bihar) in India. It gained its legendary status due to its contribution to the emergence of India as a great power around the 4th century. Much of our knowledge of Nalanda comes from the writings of pilgrim monks from Asia, such as Xuanzang and Yijing, who travelled to the Mahavihara in the 7th century. Many of the great scholars and masters who developed the Mahayana and Madhyamaka are listed by Xuanzang as alumni of Nalanda, including Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti and Shantideva. Nalanda continued to flourish under the support of the Pala Empire (8th to 12th centuries CE), but it was burned by Turkic Islamic raiders under Muhammad Khilji in 1193, which marked a milestone in the decline of Indian Buddhism.
• external links: (Nalanda): wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki / Treasury of Lives ; (17 Nalanda masters): rigpawiki
naljor (Tibetan: རྣལ་འབྱོར་, naljor / nenjor; Wylie: rnal ‘byor = Tibetan: རྣལ, nal, Wylie: rnal “basic state, fundamental condition, real situation” + Tibetan: འབྱོར་བ, jorwa, Wylie: ‘byor ba “acquire, get, wealth” also “riches, value inherent in human being”) = yoga (Sanskrit ≫ main entry); DJKR: “the wealth of being natural”; DJKR 2024-05-23 “Being confident with the real deal, the true nature”
• external links: wiktionary
naljor ngönsum (Tibetan: རྣལ་འབྱོར་མངོན་སུམ་, naljor ngönsum / nenjor ngönsum; Wylie: rnal ‘byor mngon sum ; Sanskrit: योगिप्रत्यक्ष, yogipratyaksha; IAST: yogi + pratyakṣa) = yogic direct perception or yogic bare cognition – see yogipratyaksha (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• see also: ngönsum zhi (4 kinds of direct perception)
≫ namshé (Tibetan: རྣམ་ཤེས་, Wylie: rnam shes ; Sanskrit: विज्ञान, IAST: vijñāna “discernment, understanding, comprehension”) = consciousness (one of the 12 links of dependent origination). Namshé (vijñana) is traditionally depicted as a monkey swinging from a tree, representing the way we tend to leap from one thought to another in an uncontrolled manner.
• see also: dvadasha pratityasamutpada (12 links of dependent origination).
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ nam tar go sum (Tibetan: རྣམ་ཐར་སྒོ་གསུམ་, nam tar go sum ; Wylie: rnam thar sgo gsum, also Tibetan: རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པའི་སྒོ་གསུམ་, nampar tarpé go sum ; Wylie: rnam par thar pa’i sgo gsum) = the 3 doors of liberation ; 3 gates of liberation ; 3 avenues/doorways of liberation, which are considered foundational characteristics of the Mahayana path (although Thich Nhat Hanh says “The three doors of liberation, which are taught in every Buddhist tradition, are emptiness, signlessness, and aimlessness”).
• [the ground is] emptiness (Sanskrit: शून्यता, shunyata; IAST: śūnyatā ; Tibetan: སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་, tongpa nyi, Wylie: stong pa nyid)
• [the path is] without characteristics (Sanskrit: निर्लक्षण, nirlakshana; IAST: nirlakṣaṇa “having no special marks, undistinguished, insignificant, plain”, Rigpawiki has: अनिमित्त, IAST: animitta “causeless, groundless, incidental”, but the meaning of animitta is not the same as nirlakshana ; Tibetan: མཚན་ཉིད་མེད་པ་, tsen nyi mépa, Wylie: mtshan nyid med pa, “without characteristics, without meaning, without attributes”), i.e. signlessness, characteristiclessness, “beyond characteristics”, “without characteristics”
• [the result is] beyond aspiration (wishlessness, aimlessness ; DJKR “un-longable”) (Sanskrit: अप्रणिहित, IAST: apraṇihita “free from desire, purposeless”; Tibetan: སྨོན་པ་མེད་པ་, mönpa mépa, Wylie: smon pa med pa, “wishlessness, aspirationlessness”)
DJKR has expressed this in various ways, for example in the Uttaratantra-Shastra teachings in Dordogne 2003-04:
(p.250) “The ground is beyond extremes or fabrications, the path is beyond characteristics, and the result is beyond expectations”.
(p.330) “The essence is emptiness, the path is without characteristics, and the result is without aspiration”.
Other translations include: (Rangjung Yeshe Wiki): “Emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness”, (Thich Nhat Hanh): “Emptiness, signlessness, and aimlessness”, (Rigpa Wiki): “Emptiness, absence of characteristics/attributes, and wishlessness/absence of expectancy”.
• see also: drébu mönpa mépa (the result is beyond aspiration) ; shunyata (emptiness)
• external links: rigpawiki / rywiki / Lion’s Roar
≫ Namu Myoho Renge Kyo (Japanese: 南無妙法蓮華經 alternate spelling 南無妙法蓮華経, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō) = “Glory to the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra”, a mantra chanted within Nichiren Buddhism. (Myōhō Renge Kyō is the Japanese name of the Lotus Sutra).
• see also: kushiki (the nine consciousnesses in Nichiren Buddhism); Pundarika Sutra (The Lotus Sutra)
• external links: wikipedia
≫ nangtsam (Tibetan: སྣང་ཙམ་, nang tsam; Wylie: snang tsam) = mere appearance, mere impression, mere presence.
≫ nangtsül (Tibetan: སྣང་ཚུལ ་; Wylie: snang tshul) = how things appear; the way it seems; mode of appearing; apparent condition.
• see also: (contrasted with): nétsül (how things are in reality)
≫ nangwa (Tibetan: སྣང་བ ; Wylie: snang ba ; Sanskrit: आभास, IAST: ābhāsa “appearance, mere appearance, splendour, light” , also प्रतिभास, IAST: pratibhāsa “appearance, look, similitude, appearing or occurring to the mind, manifestation”) = appearance, phenomenon.
• see also: ösel gyi nangwa (luminous manifestations) ; öselwé nang (luminous display)
• external links: (phenomenon): wiktionary ; (phenomenology): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
≫ Narak Kong Shak (Tibetan: ན་རཀ་སྐོང་བཤགས ; Wylie: na rak skong bshags) = a practice of confession and fulfillment, “Stirring the Depths of Hell: The King of Confessions for All Violations, Negative Actions, and Obscurations”, treasured within the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, compiled from the termas of Guru Chökyi Wangchuk and Rigdzin Gödem.
• external links: rigpawiki / Lotsawa House
≫ Naro Chödruk (Tibetan: ན་རོའི་ཆོས་དྲུག་, na rö chö druk ; Wylie: nA ro’i chos drug, “Naro’s Six Doctrines”; also referred to the Six Yogas, Tibetan: ཆོས་དྲུག་, chö druk ; Wylie: chos drug, “six teachings” ; Sanskrit: षड्धर्म, IAST: ṣaḍdharma = षड् ṣaḍ– “six” + धर्म dharma “practice, discipline, teaching”) = the Six Yogas of Naropa, a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Naropa and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa. They form the basis of the inner yoga practices of Mahamudra, as practised in the Kagyu and Gelug schools. They are: tummo, illusory body, dream, luminosity, bardo, and phowa.
• see also: ösel (clear light, luminosity)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / “Esoteric Instructions on the Six Yogas of Naropa” at University of Virginia
≫ Naropa (Sanskrit: नारोप, IAST: Nāropa (wikipedia has Nāropā); Sanskrit: नारोपदा, IAST: Nāropadā or Sanskrit: अभयकिर्ति, IAST: Abhayakirti; Tibetan: ནཱ་རོ་པ་, Wylie: nA ro pa) (956-1040), an important 10th/11th century Indian Buddhist master in the Kagyu tradition. Naropa was born to a Brahmin family in Bengal, and from an early age he wanted to follow a path of study and meditation. Following his parents’ wishes, he agreed to an arranged marriage with a young Brahmin girl, but after eight years they agreed to dissolve their marriage and both became ordained. At the age of 28, Naropa entered the famous Buddhist University at Nalanda where he studied both Sutra and Tantra, and he became a great scholar and debater. But one day a dakini appeared to him and he realized that he need to leave to monastery to find his teacher to attain full realization. He became a student of the mahasiddha Tilopa and subsequently a teacher of Marpa the translator, who became one of his lineage-holders and brought his teachings to Tibet, thus becoming the founder of the Kagyu lineages in Tibet. Naropa is author of the famous Six Yogas of Naropa, and is counted as one of the 84 mahasiddhas.
• see also: mahasiddha; Naro Chödruk (Six Yogas of Naropa); Tilopa (one of the 84 mahasiddhas)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki / Himalayan Art / Treasury of Lives
≫ Nataraja (Sanskrit: नटराज, IAST: Naṭarāja = naṭa + rāja; Tamil: நடராஜர்; literally “Lord of the Dance”) = Lord of the Dance, the Hindu god Shiva as the divine dancer. Every Shiva temple has a shrine dedicated to Shiva in the form of Naṭarāja performing the Ānanda Tāṇḍava, the “Dance of Bliss”, a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution.
• external links: (Nataraja): wiktionary / wikipedia / wisdom library; (Tandava): wikipedia
≫ natho (Pāli: नाथो, IAST: nātho) = protector, refuge, savior, lord, master, chief. Appears in the famous quotation from the Dhammapada, Dhp. XII:160: “You are your own refuge; who else could be your refuge?” (Pāli: अत्ता हि अत्तनो नाथो, को हि नाथो परो सिया, Attā hi attano nātho, ko hi nātho paro siyā).
• quotes: “You are your own refuge”
nenjor ngönsum (Tibetan) = redirects to naljor ngönsum.
≫ nétsül (Tibetan: གནས་ཚུལ་; Wylie: gnas tshul) = how things are (in reality); the way it is; abiding mode (of reality).
• see also: (contrasted with): nangtsül (how things appear)
≫ neyartha (Sanskrit; नेयार्थ, IAST: neyārtha “(a word or sentence) having a sense that can only be guessed” ; Tibetan: དྲང་དོན, drang dön ; Wylie: drang don) = (teachings of) provisional meaning.
• see also: (contrasted with): nitartha (teachings of definitive meaning)
• external links: rigpawiki / Wisdom Library ; (two truths doctrine): wikipedia ; (Buddhist hermeneutics): wikipedia
≫ nga (Tibetan: ང; Wylie: nga ; Sanskrit: अहं ; IAST: ahaṃ) = I, me; (first person singular pronoun). Jeffrey Hopkins: “Comment: it is said that in general “self,” (bdag, ātman), “person,” (gang zag, pudgala) and “I” (nga, ahaṃ) are equivalent, in the particular context of the selflessness of persons “self” and “person” are not at all equivalent and do not at all have the same meaning. In the term “selflessness of persons,” “self” refers to a falsely imagined status that needs to be refuted, whereas “persons” refers to existent beings who are the bases with respect to which that refutation is made. All four Buddhist schools, therefore, hold that persons exist; they do not claim that persons are mere fictions of ignorance”.
• see also: dag (self), pudgala (person)
• external links: (ང): wiktionary ; (अहं): wiktionary
≫ ngadra (Tibetan: རྔ་སྒྲ ; Wylie: rnga sgra) = sound of drum.
≫ Ngadré Zhing (Tibetan: རྔ་སྒྲའི་ཞིང ; Wylie: rnga sgra’i zhing = རྔ་སྒྲ rnga sgra + ཞིང zhing) = “Land of the Sound of Drum”, Mañjushri’s Buddhafield. See DJKR teaching on Aspiration, Taipei 2016 “In certain sutras, Mañjushri’s pure land is referred as Ngadré Zhing, which means The Land of the Sound of Drum”. According to the Avatamsaka Sutra, Mañjushri’s abode is at Wutaishan or Mount Wutai (Chinese: 五台山, pinyin: Wǔtái shān, literally “five-terrace mountain”), located at the headwaters of the Qingshui in Shanxi Province, China.
• see also: Mañjushri ; Wutaishan (Mount Wutai) ; zhing kham (buddhafield, pure land)
≫ ngak kyi né kab zhi (Tibetan: སྔགས་ཀྱི་གནས་སྐབས་བཞི, ngak kyi né kab zhi ; Wylie: sngags kyi gnas skabs bzhi, “the four occasions pertaining to tantra” ; also shortened to གནས་སྐབས་བཞི, nékab zhi, gnas skabs bzhi, “the four occasions”) = the four occasions or four times in tantric Buddhism where one can recognise the nature of the mind (cittata, semnyi). In tantric teachings, particularly in the context of Dzogchen, these four are:
(1) The Occasion of Waking from Sleep (gnyis sad pa’i gnas skabs): This refers to the transition from sleep to wakefulness. It’s considered a moment when the ordinary mind is not yet fully engaged, providing an opportunity to recognise the nature of the mind before habitual patterns and thoughts arise.
(2) The Occasion of Dreaming (rmi lam gyi gnas skabs): During the dreaming state, the ordinary sense of reality is suspended. Practitioners are taught to recognise the dream-like nature of all phenomena, which is an analogy for understanding the illusory nature of experiences in waking life.
(3) The Occasion of Deep Sleep (gnyid ‘thug gi gnas skabs): In deep, dreamless sleep, the conceptual mind is inactive. This state is considered an opportunity to experience a form of non-conceptual awareness, which can be akin to recognising the natural state of the mind that is free from dualistic thinking.
(4) The Fourth Occasion, Emission or Orgasm (bzhi pa’i gnas skabs): This refers to the moment of orgasm, which is described in tantric teachings as a time when the ordinary dualistic mind temporarily dissolves, allowing a pure experience of bliss and emptiness. This moment is seen as an opportunity to recognize the innate clarity and emptiness of the mind.
In the tantric teachings, these four occasions are said to correspond to the daily movement of the 21,600 winds of karma through four specific types of tiklé or bindu (gnas-skabs rigs-bzhi skyed-pa’i thig-le, which Berzin translates as “creative energy drops”) in the main chakras.
• see also: ngowo rangzhin tukjé (essence, nature and capacity: the three aspects of the ground) ; ösel (clarity, luminosity); semnyi (nature of mind) ; zhipé nékap (the fourth occasion)
• external links: Study Buddhism glossary ; (the four occasions in Kalachakra) Berzin Study Buddhism
≫ ngakpa (Tibetan: སྔགས་པ་, ngakpa; Wylie: sngags pa ; Sanskrit: मन्त्रिन्, IAST: mantrin, “knowing sacred texts or spells”, a conjurer, enchanter) = tantric lay practitioner, mantrika (“one who practises mantra”). A practitioner of Vajrayana who is not a monk or nun, often referred to as “householder yogis” or “yoginis” because they maintain a householder lifestyle while engaging in advanced tantric practices. Traditionally, many Nyingma ngakpas wear uncut hair and white robes (Tibetan: གོས་དཀར་ལྕང་ལོ་ཅན, Wylie: gos dkar lcang lo can = gos dkar “white clothed” + lcang lo “long plaids of hair, yogic hair”). In Bhutan, and some other parts of the Himalayas, they are referred to with the term gomchen (Tibetan: སྒོམ་ཆེན, Wylie: sgom chen, “meditator, practitioner; contemplative ascetic; great meditator”).
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki
ngédön (Tibetan: ངེས་དོན, ngé dön; Wylie: nges don) = (teachings of) definitive meaning – see nitartha (Sanskrit ≫ main entry)
≫ ngéjung (Tibetan: ངེས་འབྱུང་, ngéjung; Wylie: nges ‘byung) = renunciation, renunciation mind.
≫ ngöndro (Tibetan: སྔོན་འགྲོ་, ngön dro; Wylie: sngon ‘gro; Sanskrit: पूर्वक, IAST: pūrvaka) = preliminary practices; the preliminary, preparatory or foundational practices or disciplines (sadhana) common to all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki
ngönsum (Tibetan: མངོན་སུམ་, ngön sum; Wylie: mngon sum) = direct perception, direct cognition – see pratyaksha (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• see also: ngönsum zhi (4 kinds of direct perception)
≫ ngönsum zhi (Tibetan: མངོན་སུམ་བཞི་, ngön sum zhi; Wylie: mngon sum bzhi) = the 4 kinds of direct perception or direct cognition (this four-fold classification is shared by other schools of Indian and Hindu philosophy, see: wikipedia):
(1) indriyapratyaksha (sense perception);
(2) manasapratyaksha (mental perception);
(3) svasamvedana (self-cognition);
(4) yogipratyaksha (yogic direct perception) (which is gained after dualistic defilements have been removed).
• see also: pratyaksha (perception, cognition)
• external links: wikipedia / Khenpo Sodargye
≫ ngotrö (Tibetan: ངོ་སྤྲོད་, ngo trö; Wylie: ngo sprod) = pointing-out instruction, the direct introduction to the nature of mind in the Tibetan Buddhist lineages of Mahamudra and Dzogchen. In these traditions, a “root guru” gives the pointing-out instruction in such a way that the disciple successfully recognizes the nature of mind. One of the most famous and most beautiful quotes from the Dzogchen tradition captures the essence of the moment when Patrul Rinpoche gave a pointing-out instruction and introduced the nature of mind to his student Nyoshul Lungtok.
• quotes: “Do you see the stars up there in the sky?” (when Patrul Rinpoche introduced the nature of mind to Nyoshul Lungtok)
• external links: wikipedia
≫ ngowo rangzhin tukjé (Tibetan: ངོ་བོ་རང་བཞིན་ཐུགས་རྗེ་, Wylie: ngo bo rang bzhin thugs rje) = essence, nature and capacity – the three aspects of the ground (zhi), the primordial state that is also Buddhanature (Sugatagarbha) and the nature of mind (cittata or semnyi), according to the Dzogchen system. These 3 aspects are:
• (dharmakaya): The essence (ngowo) is the primordially pure (kadak) wisdom of emptiness (tongpa nyi).
• (sambhogakaya): The nature (rangzhin) is the spontaneously present (lhündrup) wisdom of cognizance (or clarity) (sel).
• (nirmanakaya): The capacity (or compassionate energy/manifestation/display) (tukjé) is the all-pervasive wisdom of indivisibility (yermé).
These three aspects are considered to be the ultimate identity of the Three Roots (Guru, Yidam, Dakini), the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) and the three kayas (as ground: dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya; as path: bliss, clarity and nonconceptuality). Knowledge/realization of this ground is called rigpa.
• see also: ösel (clarity, luminosity) ; semnyi (nature of mind) ; sugatagarbha (buddhanature)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki ; (Mipham Rinpoche on The Nature of Mind): Lotsawa House
≫ nirmana (Sanskrit: निर्माण, IAST: nirmāṇa) = forming, making, creating, creation, created thing or form, transformation.
• external links: wiktionary
≫ nirmanakaya (Sanskrit: निर्माणकाय, IAST: nirmāṇakāya; Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, trülku; Wylie: sprul sku; Chinese: 化身 / 化身, pinyin: huàshēn, literally “transformation body”) = the body of transformations; the physical manifestation of a buddha in time and space; one of the three bodies (trikaya) of a buddha in Mahayana Buddhism; the nirmanakaya is one of the two aspects of the form body (rupakaya) along with the sambhogakaya.
• see also: dharmakaya (“truth body”); kaya (body, dimension); nirmana (creation, created thing or form, transformation); rupakaya (“form body”); sambhogakaya (“body of enjoyment”); trikaya (three bodies of a buddha); tulku (emanation body)
• external links: (nirmanakaya): wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki; (trikaya): wikipedia
≫ nirodha (Pāli & Sanskrit: निरोध, IAST Sanskrit: nirodha, IAST Pāli: nirodha; Tibetan: འགོག་པ་, gokpa; Wylie: ‘gog pa; Burmese: နိေရာဓ) = cessation, suppression, annihilation, extinction; the third of the 4 Noble Truths.
• see also: cattari ariyasaccani (4 Noble Truths)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ nirvana (Sanskrit: निर्वाण, IAST: nirvāṇa, literally “1. Blown or put out, extinguished (as a lamp or fire); 2. Lost, disappeared; 3. Dead, deceased; 4. Liberated from existence; 5. Set (as the sun)” ; Tibetan: མྱང་འདས་, nyandé; Wylie: myang ‘das; Chinese: 涅槃, pinyin: nièpán) = extinction (as a verb, “to enter extinction”), extinguished (as a lamp or fire); blown or put out; the condition where the flames of delusion have been blown out, the final goal and attainment in Indian religions. In Hinduism, nirvana is the extinction of worldly desires and attachments, so that the union with God or the absolute is possible; absolute extinction or annihilation, complete extinction of individual existence. In Buddhism, nirvana was originally equivalent to the state of enlightenment attained by the Buddha, meaning the state that can be reached by extinguishing all illusions and destroying all karma (which is the cause of rebirth), and thus resulting in the cessation of suffering. In Mahayana Buddhism, nirvana becomes distinguished from enlightenment, becoming a secondary level attainment of those who follow the Shravakayana path.
• other languages: nyandé (Tibetan)
• easily confused: the English words “enlightenment/awakening” (Sanskrit: ≫ बोधि, bodhi; Tibetan: བྱང་ཆུབ་, jangchup; Chinese: 佛位, fówèi), “buddha/buddhahood” (Sanskrit: ≫ बुद्ध, buddha; Tibetan: སངས་རྒྱས་, sangyé; Chinese: 佛, fó), “liberation” (Sanskrit: ≫ मोक्ष, moksha; Tibetan: ཐར་པ་, tarpa; Chinese: 解脫, jiětuō) and “nirvana” (Sanskrit: ≫ निर्वाण, nirvana; Tibetan: མྱང་འདས་, nyandé; Chinese: 涅槃, nièpán) are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings in Sanskrit/Tibetan.
• see also: moksha (liberation, release), samsara (cyclic existence)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ nitartha (Sanskrit: नीतार्थ, IAST: nītārtha “of plain or clear meaning”; Tibetan: ངེས་དོན, ngé dön; Wylie: nges don) = (teachings of) definitive meaning, as contrasted with teachings that require interpretation (neyartha)
• other languages: ngédön (Tibetan)
• see also: (contrasted with): neyartha (teachings of provisional meaning)
• external links: rigpawiki / (two truths doctrine): wikipedia ; (Buddhist hermeneutics): wikipedia
≫ nyam [homophone of two different Tibetan words]:
(1) (Tibetan: མཉམ་, Wylie: mnyam) = even, equal, alike, level.
(2) (Tibetan: ཉམས་, Wylie: nyams) = experience, temporary experience, meditative experience.
• see also (for Tibetan: མཉམ་, Wylie: mnyam): nyamzhak (meditative equipoise)
• see also (for Tibetan: ཉམས་, Wylie: nyams): nyamlen (Dharma practice); nyamsum (the three meditation experiences)
≫ nyamlen (Tibetan: ཉམས་ལེན་, nyamlen; Wylie: nyams len) = Dharma practice, spiritual practice, to put into practice (as opposed to theory), application.
nyampar zhakpa (Tibetan: མཉམ་པར་བཞག་པ་, Wylie: mnyam par bzhag pa) = redirects to nyamzhak (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
≫ nyamsum (Tibetan: ཉམས་གསུམ་, nyam sum; Wylie: nyams gsum) = the three meditation experiences (or “moods”) of bliss, clarity and nonthought (or nonconceptuality).
• see also: dewé nyam (bliss), selwé nyam (clarity), mi tokpé nyam (nonconceptuality)
• external links: rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ nyamzhak (Tibetan: མཉམ་བཞག་, nyam zhak; Wylie: mnyam bzhag; Sanskrit: समाहित, IAST: samāhita) = meditative equipoise; evenly resting; the state of even contemplation.
• see also: zhak (put, place, “leave it alone”)
nyandé (Tibetan: མྱང་འདས་, nyandé; Wylie: myang ‘das) = nirvana (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
nyédön (Tibetan) = (teachings of) definitive meaning ; redirects to ngédön (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
nyéjung (Tibetan) = renunciation ; redirects to ngéjung (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
≫ nyéring chakdang (Tibetan: ཉེ་རིང་ཆགས་སྡང་; Wylie: nye ring chags sdang) = with partiality and prejudice to those close and distant; DJKR: “not yet free from distinctions and references, such as closeness or distance”.
≫ nyi (Tibetan: ཉིད་; Wylie: nyid) = (1) -ness [used to form abstract nouns] ; (2) it, itself, the very, the same, namely, just, only, exactly ; (3) self, itself, oneself ; (4) nature.
• see also: tongpa nyi (emptiness)
≫ nyidzin (Tibetan: གཉིས་འཛིན་, nyidzin; Wylie: gnyis ‘dzin) = dualism, dualistic perception; dualistic grasping, dualistic fixation; subject-object dualism; the ordinary perception of unenlightened beings; the apprehension of phenomena in terms of subject (consciousness) and object (mental images and the outer world), and the belief in their true existence.
• see also: nyinang (mere apprehension, dualistic appearance) ; yin-yang (dualism in Taoism)
• external links: (dualism in Indian philosophy): wikipedia
≫ nyinang (Tibetan: གཉིས་སྣང ; Wylie: gnyis snang, Sanskrit: द्वयाभता, IAST: dvayābhatā = द्वय dvaya “two things, both, twofold nature” + ābhatā, from आभास ābhāsa “mere appearance, fallacious appearance”) = mere apprehension, dualistic appearance; a form of dualism that remains on the eighth bhumi. When DJKR taught the Madhyamakavatara, he said that bodhisattvas on the eighth bhumi no longer perceive ordinary perceptions or appearances, but they still have a defilement (that is part of tsendzin or fixation on characteristics) called nyinang, which can be translated as “mere apprehension” or “mere appearance”, a very subtle form of dualism. He also said this is why only bodhisattvas on the eighth bhumi can directly perceive and receive teachings from the Sambhogakaya.
• see also: dagdzin (self-clinging) ; dendzin (clinging to phenomena as truly existent) ; nyidzin (dualistic perception) ; tsendzin (fixation on characteristics)
• external links: rywiki
nyingjé (Tibetan: སྙིང་རྗེ་, nyingjé; Wylie: snying rje) = compassion, the wish to free all beings from suffering and the causes of suffering – see karuna (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• see also: tukjé (compassion)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ Nyingma (Tibetan: རྙིང་མ་, Wylie: rnying ma; literally “ancient”) = the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism (the other three are the Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug). Also often referred to as Ngangyur (Tibetan: སྔ་འགྱུར་རྙིང་མ་, ngagyur nyingma; Wylie: snga ‘gyur rnying ma, literally “school of the ancient translations” or “old school”) because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Old Tibetan in the 8th century, for which the Tibetan alphabet and grammar were created. The Nyingma particularly believes in terma (hidden treasure teachings) and places an emphasis on Dzogchen as the highest of the nine vehicles.
• see also: Dzogchen, Jigme Lingpa, Padmasambhava
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ Nyingtik Tsapö (Tibetan: སྙིང་ཐིག་རྩ་པོད་ ; Wylie: snying thig rtsa pod), properly known as the Longchen Nyingtik Tsapo, klong chen snying thig rtsa pod) = the root texts of the Longchen Nyingtik (“The Heart Essence of the Great Expanse”), three volumes containing the main texts and commentarial literature of the Longchen Nyingtik, a terma cycle revealed by the tertön Jigme Lingpa in the late 18th century. These deal primarily with tantric practice, in particular the stages of Development Stage (kyerim / utpattikrama) and Dzogchen. A fourth volume of commentarial literature compiled by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo is sometimes added.
• see also: Dzogchen ; Jigme Lingpa ; kyerim (development stage) ; Longchen Nyingtik
• external links: (list of sadhanas and texts in the Nyingtik Tsapö): rywiki
≫ Nyingtik Yabshi (Tibetan: སྙིང་ཐིག་ཡ་བཞི, Wylie: snying thig ya bzhi) = the Four Parts of the Nyingtik (or the Four-fold Heart Essence), namely Vima Nyingtik, Lama Nyingtik, Khandro Nyingtik and Khandro Yangtik. One of the most famous set of Dzogchen scriptures, this was compiled by Longchenpa to condense the two primary lineages of Dzogchen practice in Tibet, those of Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra. Taken as a whole, this collection of texts is considered the core teaching on the practice of Dzogchen, and in particular the Heart Essence teachings of the Instruction Class.
• empowerments and reading transmission given by DJKR at Chokling Monastery, Bir, India, May 9-18, 2024
• external links: rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ nyöndrip (Tibetan: ཉོན་སྒྲིབ་, nyöndrip; Wylie: nyon sgrib ; Sanskrit: क्लेशावरण, IAST: kleśāvaraṇa from क्लेश + आवरण, IAST: kleśa + āvaraṇa ; Chinese: 煩惱障 / 烦恼障, pinyin: fánnǎo zhàng) = emotional obscurations, afflictive obstructions, obstructions to liberation.
• see also: drib (obscuration) ; dribpa nyi (2 obscurations): (1) emotional obscurations: nyöndrip (Tibetan), kleshavarana (Sanskrit); (2) cognitive obscurations: shédrip (Tibetan), jñeyavarana (Sanskrit) ; nyönmong (negative emotion)
• glossary: 2 obscurations = emotional obscurations (nyöndrip) & cognitive obscurations (shédrip)
nyönmong (Tibetan (1): ཉོན་མོང་, nyönmong ; Wylie: nyon mong ; Tibetan (2): ཉོན་མོངས་, Wylie: nyon mongs) = afflictive emotions – see klesha (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
≫ nyönpa (Tibetan: སྨྱོན་པ་; Wylie: smyon pa “insane” ; Sanskrit: अवधूत, IAST: avadhūta, “one who has shaken off (worldly obligations and concerns)”) = madman, crazy yogi. A nyönpa is a free spirit who follows the rule of spontaneity and intuition, without following conventional societal rules for outward behavior. Instead, they are known for behaviors such as wandering homeless, consuming substances considered impure, drinking alcohol and eating meat, singing and dancing, and engaging in sexual relations. However, they dedicate their lives to renunciation and the path of enlightenment, and they inwardly follow traditional formal disciplines and practices of the spiritual path.
• see also: Thangtong Gyalpo
• external links: (nyönpa): wiktionary / wikipedia ; (Crazy Yogins During the Early Renaissance Period): THLIB
≫ Nyoshul Lungtok (Tibetan: སྨྱོ་ཤུལ་ལུང་རྟོགས་བསྟན་པའི་ཉི་མ་, Nyoshul Lungtok Tenpé Nyima ; Wylie: smyo shul lung rtogs bstan pa’i nyi ma) (1829-1901) = a 19th century Tibetan master who received the Dzogchen teachings from Patrul Rinpoche and is regarded as his greatest disciple. He is also regarded as an emanation of Shantarakshita. One of the most famous and most beautiful quotes from the Dzogchen tradition captures the essence of the moment when Nyoshul Lungtok received the pointing-out instruction from Patrul Rinpoche.
• quotes: “Do you see the stars up there in the sky?” (when Patrul Rinpoche introduced the nature of mind to Nyoshul Lungtok)
• see also: Shantarakshita
• external links: rigpawiki / rywiki / TBRC