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T
≫ ta gom chöpa (Tibetan: ལྟ་སྒོམ་སྤྱོད ; Wylie: lta sgom spyod pa) = view, meditation and action (also translated as “view, meditation and conduct”) [note: here “meditation” is bhavana = development, training, cultivation, practice]
• see also: chöpa (action, conduct), gompa (meditation, development, training), tawa (view)
• external links: rigpawiki
≫ taigi (Japanese: 大疑, taigi = 大, tai “great” + 疑, gi “doubt, distrust, suspicion”) = “great darkness” or “great doubt”, an aim of koan (gong’an) study and practice in Zen (Chan). There is a well-known saying in Zen that “Great awakening (大悟, taigo) is only possible amid great doubt (大疑, taigi)”. (Also: “Great doubt, great awakening; no doubt, no awakening”).
• see also: bodhi (enlightenment, awakening) ; koan (story or question used in Zen study and practice)
• external links: buddhism.org
≫ tajitu (Chinese: 太極圖 / 太极图; pinyin: tàijítú = 太極, tàijí “great polarity; the great tension between yin and yang that exists before actual differentiation into heaven and earth. Thus, the origin of the myriad phenomena” + 圖, tú “map, chart, plan”) = circular black and white symbol used to depict the concept of the “supreme ultimate” (太极, taiji) in Taoism, representing both its dualist (陰陽, yin-yang) and monist (无极, wuji) aspects.
• see also: nyidzin (dualism) ; yin-yang (literally “dark-bright”, “negative-positive”, a concept of dualism in Taoism)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia
≫ takta (Tibetan: རྟག་ལྟ་, tak ta; Wylie: rtag lta; contraction of: Tibetan: རྟག་པའི་ལྟ་བ་, takpé tawa; Wylie: rtag pa’i lta ba; Sanskrit: शाश्वतदृष्टि, IAST: śāśvata + dṛṣṭi; Pāli: सस्सतवाद, IAST: sassatavāda) = eternalism, view of permanence. The belief that there is a permanent and causeless creator of everything; in particular, that one’s identity or consciousness has a concrete essence which is independent, everlasting and singular.
• see also: madhyamaka (the middle way free from all extremes); tanyi (2 extremes) = (1) takta (eternalism), (2) chéta (nihilism); tawa (view)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ tamel gyi shepa (Tibetan: ཐ་མལ་གྱི་ཤེས་པ་, tamel gyi shepa; Wylie: tha mal gyi shes pa) = ordinary mind (a term from the Mahamudra teachings of the Karma Kagyu lineage); synonym for semnyi (nature of mind). Alexander Berzin comments that it is ordinary “in the sense that it is the primordial, natural state that has always been the case”.
• see also: semnyi (nature of mind) ; vilakshana (without marks or characteristics)
• external links: (ordinary mind): Study Buddhism; (pointing out the ordinary mind): wikipedia ; (Chögyam Trungpa on the fourth moment): Lion’s Roar
Tangtong Gyalpo (Tibetan) = redirects to Thangtong Gyalpo (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
≫ tantra (Sanskrit: तन्त्र, IAST: tantra; Tibetan: རྒྱུད་, gyü; Wylie: rgyud) = continuity, continuum; tantra is classified into the three aspects of (1) ground/nature, (2) path/method and (3) result.
• other languages: gyü (Tibetan)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ tanyi (Tibetan: མཐའ་གཉིས་, ta nyi, Wylie: mtha’ gnyis) = the two extremes or two sides; usually refers to the two extremes of eternalism and nihilism, but may also refer to being and non-being, or subject and object.
• see also: madhyamaka (the middle way free from all extremes); tanyi (2 extremes) = (1) takta (eternalism), (2) chéta (nihilism); tawa (view)
≫ Tao Te Ching (Chinese: 道德經, pinyin: Dàodé jīng, also rendered as Dao De Jing or Daodejing) = a Taoist classic text traditionally credited to the 6th century BCE Chinese sage Laozi. The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism.
• see also: Laozi; wu (nonexistence, nonbeing)
• external links: wikipedia
tarpa (Tibetan: ཐར་པ་, tarpa; Wylie: thar pa; Sanskrit: मोक्ष, IAST: mokṣa) = liberation, release – see moksha (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• 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.
≫ tashi (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་, trashi; Wylie: bkra shis) = auspicious, favourable, good fortune, good luck.
• external links: wiktionary
≫ Tashi Tagyé (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྟགས་བརྒྱད་, trashi takgyé; Wylie: bkra shis rtags brgyad; Sanskrit: अष्टमङ्गल, ashtamangala, IAST: aṣṭamaṅgala) = The Eight Auspicious Symbols. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition (following the order given in rywiki), these are:
(1) Parasol (Sanskrit: छत्त्ररत्न, IAST: chattraratna = छत्त्र, chattra, “umbrella” + रत्न, ratna, “jewel” also sitātapatra; Tibetan: ༺གདུགས་མཆོག།༻, gdugs mchog, “excellent umbrella”, also རིན་ཆེན་གདུགས་, rinchenduk; Wylie: rin chen gdugs) = jeweled parasol, which is similar in ritual function to the baldachin or canopy, and represents the protection of beings from harmful forces and illness.
(2) Pair of Golden Fish (Sanskrit: गौर्मत्स्य, IAST: gaurmatsya or kanakamatsya; Tibetan: ༺གསེར་ཉ།༻, sernya; Wylie: gser nya) = symbolise the auspiciousness of all sentient beings in a state of fearlessness without danger of drowning in samsara. The two fishes originally represented the two main sacred rivers of India, the Ganges and Yamuna, which are associated with the lunar and solar channels, and represent fertility and abundance.
(3) Treasure Vase (Sanskrit: निधिघट, IAST: nidhighaṭa = निधि, nidhi, “treasure” + घट, ghaṭa, “jar, large earthen water-jar”; घट; Tibetan: ༺བུམ་པ།༻, bum pa, also གཏེར་ཆེན་པོའི་བུམ་པ་, terchenpo’i bumpa; Wylie: gter chen po’i bum pa, “vase of great treasure”) = treasure vase, which represents health, longevity, wealth, prosperity, wisdom and the phenomenon of space. It also symbolizes the Buddha’s infinite quality of teaching the dharma: no matter how many teachings he gives, the treasure never lessens.
(4) Lotus (Sanskrit: पद्म, IAST: padma or padmakuñjara; Tibetan: ༺པད་མ།༻, péma; Wylie: pad ma) = represents the primordial purity of body, speech, and mind, floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. The lotus symbolizes purity and renunciation. Although the lotus has its roots in the mud at the bottom of a pond, its flower lies immaculate above the water.
(5) Conch (Sanskrit: शङ्ख, IAST: śaṅkha or śaṅkhavarta; Tibetan: ༺དུང་དཀར་གཡས་འཁྱིལ།༻, dungkar yénkhyil; Wylie: dung dkar g.yas ‘khyil) = a right-turning white conch shell, which represents the beautiful, deep, melodious, interpenetrating and pervasive sound of the dharma, which awakens disciples from the deep slumber of ignorance and urges them to accomplish their own welfare for the welfare of others.
(6) Endless knot (Sanskrit: श्रीवत्स, IAST: śrīvatsa; Tibetan: ༺དཔལ་བེའུ།༻, pel beu; Wylie: dpal be’u, “knot of eternity”)= a symbol of the ultimate unity of everything, which denotes “the auspicious mark represented by a curled noose emblematic of love”. It also represents the intertwining of wisdom and compassion and the union of wisdom and method.
(7) Victory Banner (Sanskrit: ध्वज, IAST: dhvaja; Tibetan: ༺རྒྱལ་མཚན།༻, gyeltsen; Wylie: rgyal mtshan) = the banner or flag was a military standard of ancient Indian warfare. The symbol represents the Buddha’s victory over the four maras, or hindrances on the path of enlightenment.
(8) Dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र, IAST: dharmacakra; Tibetan: ༺གསེར་གྱི་འཁོར་ལོ།༻, gser gyi ‘khor lo, also ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ་, chö kyi khorlo; Wylie: chos kyi ‘khor lo) = an 8-spoked “Wheel of the Dharma” or “Wheel of the Law”, which represents Gautama Buddha and the Dharma teaching.
The symbols are ordered differently in other Buddhist traditions (e.g. in Nepali Buddhism or Chinese Buddhism).
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki / Himalayan Art
≫ Tashi Tsekpa (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་བརྩེགས་པ་, trashi tsekpa; Wylie: bkra shis brtsegs pa) = “Heap of Goodness”, a dharani from the Collection of Dharanis (Tibetan: གཟུངས་འདུས་, zungdü; Wylie: gzungs ‘dus). Also known as “The Noble Stack of Auspiciousness”.
• see also: dharani (chant, incantation, recitation)
• external links: (translation by Gavin Kilty): FPMT
≫ tatha (Sanskrit: तथा, IAST: tathā; Tibetan: དེ་བཞིན་, dézhin; Wylie: de bzhin) = that itself, like that, in that manner, so, thus; DJKR: “whatever it is”, “as it is”, “what is”, “here and now”.
• other languages: dézhin (Tibetan)
• see also: tathata (suchness, thusness); tathagata (“thus come / thus gone”, syn. the Buddha); tathagatagarbha (buddhanature)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ tathata (Sanskrit: तथाता, IAST: tathātā; Tibetan: དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད་, dézhin nyi; Wylie: de bzhin nyid) = suchness, thusness, as it is, reality, state of being just as it is; true nature, true state of things.
• external links: wiktionary
≫ tathagata (Sanskrit: तथागत, IAST: tathāgata = tathā “thus” + gata “gone, departed, come, arrived at” ; Tibetan: དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་, dézhin shekpa ; Wylie: de bzhin gshegs pa ; Chinese: 如来, pinyin: rúlái) = (one) thus gone, thus come, intrinsically inhering buddhahood, tathagata (syn. the Buddha); DJKR: “one who has gone beyond samsara and nirvana”, “authentic presence”, “authenticity”.
• other languages: dézhin shekpa (Tibetan)
• see also: buddha ; tathagatagarbha (buddhanature)
• external links: (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་): wiktionary ; (如來) wiktionary
≫ tathagatagarbha (Sanskrit: तथागतगर्भ, IAST: tathāgatagarbha = tathagata + garbha ; Tibetan: དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་, dézhin shekpé nyingpo; Wylie: de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po) = buddhanature. Mahayana Buddhist philosophy places great emphasis on distinguishing Buddhanature from the Hindu concept of atman or supreme self.
• see also: atman ; garbha (essence, nature) ; ngowo rangzhin tukjé (essence, nature and capacity) ; sugatagarbha (buddhanature) ; tathagata (“thus come / thus gone”, syn. the Buddha)
• external links: wikipedia
tawa (Tibetan: ལྟ་བ་, tawa; Wylie: lta ba) = view, orientation, perspective, belief – see drishti (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• see also: tanyi (2 extremes) = (1) takta (eternalism), (2) chéta (nihilism); tawa (view); ta gom chöpa (view, meditation & action); tawa gompa chöpa drébu (view, meditation, action & result)
• external links: wiktionary
tawa gompa chöpa (Tibetan: ལྟ་བ་སྒོམ་པ་སྤྱོད་པ་; Wylie: lta ba sgom pa spyod pa) = view, meditation & action – see ta gom chöpa (Tibetan ≫ main entry)
• see also: tawa gompa chöpa drébu (view, meditation, action & result)
≫ tawa gompa chöpa drébu (Tibetan: ལྟ་བ་སྒོམ་པ་སྤྱོད་པ་འབྲས་བུ ; Wylie: lta ba sgom pa spyod pa ‘bras bu) = view (the philosophical orientation), meditation (the act of growing accustomed to that view, for example in sitting practice), conduct (the implementation of that insight during the activities of daily life) and fruition (the final outcome resulting from such training). Each Buddhist yana (vehicle) has its own particular definition of view, meditation, conduct and fruition [note: here “meditation” is bhavana = development, training, cultivation, practice] ; DJKR: “view, meditation, action and result”.
• see also: tawa (view) ; gompa (meditation) ; chöpa (action) ; drébu (result)
≫ tawa lokpa (Tibetan: ལྟ་བ་ལོག་པ ; Wylie: lta ba log pa) = wrong view ; wrong/erroneous/mistaken/perverted view ; heresy, false ideology
• see also (shortened to): lokta
• see also: drishti (view; wrong views) ; mulaklesha (six root disturbing emotions)
≫ tekpa gu (Tibetan: ཐེག་པ་དགུ་, tekpa gu ; Wylie: theg pa dgu ; also ཐེག་པ་རིམ་པ་དགུ་, tekpa rimpa gu ; Wylie: theg pa rim pa dgu “nine successive vehicles”) = the nine yanas or vehicles according to the Nyingma classification of the Buddhist path.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ tekpa sum (Tibetan: ཐེག་པ་གསུམ་, tek pa sum; Wylie: theg pa gsum; also: ཀུན་འབྱུང་འདྲེན་པའི་ཐེག་པ་གསུམ་, kunjung drenpé tekpa sum; Wylie: kun ‘byung ‘dren pa’i theg pa gsum, “Three outer yanas leading from the origin”) = the three yanas or vehicles known to Indian Buddhism; considered as the first 3 of the nine yanas in the Nyingma classification of the Buddhist path. The 3 yanas are:
(1) Shravakayana (Tibetan: ཉན་ཐོས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ་, nyentö kyi tekpa; Wylie: nyan thos kyi theg pa) = the vehicle of listeners, pious attendants, shravakas.
(2) Pratyekabuddhayana (Tibetan: རང་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཐེག་པ་, rang sang gyé kyi tekpa; Wylie: rang sangs rgyas kyi theg pa) = the vehicle of lone-learners, pratyekabuddhas, solitary realizers.
(3) Mahayana / Bodhisattvayana (Tibetan: ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་, tekpa chenpo; Wylie: theg pa chen po) = the vehicle of bodhisattvas.
• external links: (yana): wikipedia; (three yanas): wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ tenpa dampa (Tibetan: བསྟན་པ་དམ་པ་; Wylie: bstan pa dam pa) = supreme teaching, sacred teaching.
≫ Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: bstan ‘dzin rgya mtsho) (born July 6, 1935) = H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader and the seniormost figure in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He was born in Amdo, in the north-east of Tibet in 1935, and left Tibet in 1959 following the Chinese invasion. Since then, he has resided in Dharamsala, India, the site of the Tibetan government-in-exile. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
• see also: Dalai Lama
• external links (Tenzin Gyatso, H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama): wikipedia / rigpawiki / DalaiLama.com
≫ terma (Tibetan: གཏེར་མ་, ter ma; Wylie: gter ma) = hidden treasure; the transmission of Dharma teachings through treasures that were concealed in the earth and in minds of disciples mainly by Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) and Yeshe Tsogyal during the 8th century, to be discovered at the proper time by a tertön (treasure revealer) for the benefit of future disciples and followers of Dharma. As such, terma represent a tradition of continuous revelation in Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism. Terma is one of the two chief traditions of the Nyingma School, the other being Kama or transmitted precepts (Tibetan: བཀའ་མ་, ka ma; Wylie: bka’ ma). Termas are very often discovered in the form of a yellow scroll (Tibetan: ཤོག་སེར་, shok ser; Wylie: shog ser) on which are written a few syllables in symbolic dakini script (Tibetan: མཁའ་འགྲོ་བརྡ་ཡིག་, khandro da yik; Wylie: mkha’ ‘gro brda yig). These letters can only be deciphered by the tertön to whom the legacy of the spiritual treasure belongs, and are unintelligible to anyone else. Concealed treasures may be of many different kinds, including texts, ritual objects, relics, and natural objects. Many of these treasure teachings were collected by Jamgön Kongtrül and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo into the Rinchen Terdzö (Treasury of Precious Termas), which spans more than sixty volumes.
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ tertön (Tibetan: གཏེར་སྟོན་, ter tön; Wylie: gter ston) = treasure-revealer; a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or spiritual treasures (terma) said to have been hidden mainly by Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) and Yeshe Tsogyal for the benefit of future generations. Many tertöns are considered to be incarnations of the 25 main disciples of Guru Rinpoche.
• see also: tertön gyalpo nga (the Five Tertön Kings)
• external links: (tertön): wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki; (25 disciples of Guru Rinpoche): rigpawiki
≫ tertön gyalpo nga (Tibetan: གཏེར་སྟོན་རྒྱལ་པོ་ལྔ་, tertön gyalpo nga / tertön gyelpo nga; Wylie: gter ston rgyal po lnga) = the Five Tertön Kings (five king-like tertöns) or the Five Sovereign Treasure-Revealers are considered the most important tertöns. They were all emanations of King Trisong Deutsen:
• Nyangral Nyima Özer (1124-1192), the body incarnation of Trisong Deutsen
• Guru Chökyi Wangchuk (1212-1270), the speech incarnation of Trisong Deutsen
• Dorje Lingpa (1346-1405)
• Pema Lingpa (1445/50-1521)
• Pema Ösel Do-ngak Lingpa (Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo) (1820-1892)
Sometimes the list also includes the great tertön Rigdzin Gödem (1337-1408).
• see also: tertön (treasure-revealer)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki
tétsom (Tibetan: ཐེ་ཚོམ་, té tsom; Wylie: the tshom) = doubt, suspicion, indecision, hesitation – see vichikitsa (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• other languages: vichikitsa (Sanskrit ≫ main entry)
• see also: klesha (afflictive/disturbing emotions, negative emotions); mulaklesha (six root disturbing emotions): raga (राग, desire), pratigha (प्रतिघ, anger), avidya (अविद्या, ignorance), mana (मान, pride), vichikitsa (विचिकित्सा, doubt), drishti (दृष्टि, view); nyöndrip (emotional obscurations)
≫ thab ké (Tibetan: ཐབས་མཁས་, thab ké; Wylie: thabs mkhas ; Sanskrit: उपायकौशल्य, upaya-kaushalya; IAST: upāyakauśalya, from उपाय + कुशल, IAST: upāya + kuśala) = skillful means, skill in means, excellence in means, resourceful, expedient; refers to teachings or aspects of guidance where a conscious, voluntary action “is driven by an incomplete reasoning” about its direction. The implication is that even if a technique, view, etc., is not ultimately “true” in the highest sense, it may still be expedient or skillful in the way that it can bring the practitioner closer to true realisation. Professor Richard Gombrich notes “the exercise of skill to which it refers, the ability to adapt one’s message to the audience, is of enormous importance in the Pali Canon”.
• other languages: upayakaushalya (Sanskrit)
• see also: thabdang shérab (wisdom and method) ; upaya (means, approach)
• external links: wikipedia
≫ thabdang shérab (Tibetan: ཐབས་དང་ཤེས་རབ; Wylie: thabs dang shes rab) = wisdom and method, prajña and upaya, skilful means and wisdom. Buddhahood is attained by uniting means and knowledge. In Mahayana, these are compassion and emptiness, relative bodhichitta and ultimate bodhichitta. In Vajrayana, means and knowledge are the stages of development and completion. According to Dzogchen, wisdom/knowledge is the view of primordial purity, the Trekchö practice of realising the heart of enlightenment in the present moment, while skilful means/method is the meditation of spontaneous presence, the Tögal practice of exhausting defilements and fixation through which the rainbow body is realised within one lifetime.
• external links: rigpawiki
≫ Thaganapa (Tibetan: ཐ་ག་ན་པ།; Wylie: rtag tu rdzun smra ba): “He Who Always Lies”, one of the 84 mahasiddhas.
• see also: mahasiddha
• external links: Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopaedia / Tsem Rinpoche
≫ Thangtong Gyalpo (Tibetan: ཐང་སྟོང་རྒྱལ་པོ་; thang tong gyalpo / tang tong gyelpo; Wylie: thang stong rgyal po, “King of the Empty Plain”) (1361-1485) = a great 14th/15th Tibetan Buddhist practitioner, Chöd master, yogi, physician, blacksmith, architect, and a pioneering civil engineer. He is said to have built 58 iron chain suspension bridges around Tibet and Bhutan, several of which are still in use today. He also designed and built several large stupas of unusual design including the great Kumbum at Chung Riwoche in Tibet; established Gonchen Monastery in Derge; and is considered to be the father of a style of Tibetan opera called Lhamo. also known as Chakzampa “Iron Bridge Maker” (Wylie: lcags zam pa, from lcags zam “iron bridge”), and Tsöndrü Zangpo “Excellent Persistence” (Wylie: brtson ‘grus bzang po). He was also known as Madman of the Empty Valley. He is associated with the Shangpa Kagyu, Nyingma and Sakya traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, and with the tradition of “mad yogis” known as nyönpa. He is also known as a sorcerer character in the popular Tibetan story of Gesar. In addition, he is believed to be the most widely traveled person in Tibetan history.
• see also: nyönpa (madman, crazy yogi)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki / Himalayan Art / Treasury of Lives
≫ Theravada (Pāli: थेरवाद, IAST: Theravāda; Burmese: ေထရဝါဒ) = “the school of the elders”, the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism’s oldest extant school. The word “thero” (commonly appearing in the masculine and feminine forms thera and therī respectively) is an honorific term in Pali for senior bhikkhus and bhikkhunis (Buddhist monks and nuns) in the Buddhist monastic order.
• see also: bhikshu (Buddhist monk); bhikshuni (Buddhist nun); Ekayana (the Single Vehicle); Hinayana (the Lesser Vehicle); Mahayana (the Great Vehicle); Shravakayana (the Vehicle of the Shravakas); Vajrayana (the Diamond Vehicle); yana (vehicle or method)
• external links: (Theravada): wiktionary / wikipedia; (thero): wikipedia; (What is Theravada Buddhism?): Access to Insight
≫ Thinley Norbu Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཕྲིན་ལས་ནོར་བུ་, Wylie: phrin las nor bu, also: Tibetan: གདུང་སྲས་ཕྲིན་ལས་ནོར་བུ་, Wylie: gdung sras phrin las nor bu) (1931-2011) = a great 20th century Nyingma scholar and master, son of H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and father of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. He was born in Lhasa and trained for nine years at Mindroling monastery in Tibet, and he was a main Dudjom Tersar lineage holder. He was an incarnation of Longchenpa and also of Drimé Özer, one of the seven sons of Dudjom Lingpa. After living in Bhutan, he eventually settled in New York where he gathered students and wrote several books in English. He passed away in California in 2011.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki / Lotsawa House
≫ thün (Tibetan: ཐུན་, Wylie: thun) = session, period; meditation session, practice session.
• see also: dathün (month-long meditation session)
≫ Tilopa (Prakrit: Tilopa; Tibetan: ཏི་ལོ་པ་, Wylie: ti lo pa) (988-1069) = one of the 84 mahasiddhas, considered as the Indian patriarch of the Kagyu lineage. Although born into the priestly caste in Bengal, he took monastic vows and travelled throughout India receiving tantric teachings from many gurus. Following the advice of Matangi, one of his gurus, Tilopa started to work at a brothel in Bengal for a prostitute called Dharima as her solicitor and bouncer. During the day, he made his living by grinding sesame seeds (Sanskrit: तिल, IAST: tila), which gave rise to his name (in the Blue Annals his alternative name, “Tilli-pa,” is used). Tilopa is often depicted eating a live fish, as it is said that his most famous student Naropa first met him while he was eating fish entrails by the side of a lake. He transmitted the Mahamudra to Naropa by means of the song known as The Ganges Mahamudra, which contains Tilopa’s oral instructions for accomplishing enlightenment and is considered a definitive source text for the tradition of Mahamudra meditation in general.
• see also: mahasiddha ; Naropa
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / Himalayan Art / TBRC / Wisdom Library / Treasury of Lives
timuk (Tibetan: གཏི་མུག་, timuk; Wylie: gti mug) = bewilderment, confusion, delusion – see moha (Pāli & Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
tingédzin (Tibetan: ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་, tingédzin or ting ngé dzin; Wylie: ting nge ‘dzin, from Tibetan: འཛིན་, dzin; Wylie: ‘dzin = “to hold, grasp, apprehend” also “apprehending subject” + Tibetan: ཏིང་ངེ་, ting nyé; Wylie: ting nge = “clearly”) = meditative concentration, stabilization, absorption – see samadhi (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
≫ tob chu (Tibetan: སྟོབས་བཅུ ; Wylie: stobs bcu also: དེ་བཞིན་གཤེས་པའི་སྟོབས།, de bzhin gshegs pa’i stobs; Sanskrit: दशबल, dashabala ; IAST: daśabala) = the 10 powers of the Buddha (Note: the list of 10 powers in the tob chu or dashabala, which is a list of 10 ways of knowing that are unique to Buddhas, also known as jñana-bala, is different from the list of 10 strengths/powers in the wang chu or dashavashita).
• see also: jangchup sempé tob (10 powers of a bodhisattva) / wang chu (10 strengths of the Buddha)
• external links: rigpawiki / Encyclopedia of Buddhism
≫ tokmé (Tibetan: རྟོག་མེད་, tokmé; Wylie: rtog med) = nonconceptuality, nonconceptual, nonthought, free from conceptual thinking.
• see also: mi tokpa (nonconceptuality)
• external links: rigpawiki
≫ tong (Tibetan: མཐོང་, tong; Wylie: mthong) = seeing, noticing, experiencing; DJKR: “realising”, “awakened with”.
• other languages: passana (Pāli)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ tongpa (Tibetan: སྟོང་པ་; Wylie: stong pa) = blank, empty, nothingness, devoid; also used as synonym of tongpa nyi (emptiness).
tongpa nyi (Tibetan: སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་, tong pa nyi; Wylie: stong pa nyid) = emptiness – see shunyata (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• see also: nyi (-ness)
≫ tosuto (Japanese:トースト, tōsuto) = toast (in Japanese). DJKR describes his love of Japanese toast in the teaching “Vipassana for beginners“, Taipei, December 12, 2020.
• see also: shokupan (Japanese “eating bread”)
≫ trang (Tibetan: འཕྲང་, trang; Wylie: ‘phrang) = narrow dangerous path (on a cliff or in a ravine); narrow defile; perilous journey; ambush.
• see also: gompé trang (the ravine of meditation)
trashi (Tibetan) = redirects to tashi (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
≫ tridharmachakra (Sanskrit: त्रिधर्मचक्र, IAST: tridharmacakra = त्रि tri + धर्मचक्र dharmacakra “wheel of the law”; Tibetan: ཆོས་འཁོར་རིམ་པ་གསུམ་, chö khor rimpa sum; Wylie: chos ‘khor rim pa gsum) = the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma, the three major series of teachings given by the Buddha, according to the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition and as found in the Samdhinirmochana Sutra:
(1) The first turning took place in the Deer Park at Sarnath, Varanasi, where Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths.
(2) The second turning took place on Vulture’s Peak Mountain near Rajagriha and included sutras such as the Prajñaparamita sutras and the Lotus Sutra, where Buddha taught on the absence of characteristics.
(3) The third turning took place in Vaishali and other places and included the sutras that explain buddhanature and the three natures, such as the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ trikaya (Sanskrit: त्रिकाय, IAST: trikāya; Tibetan: སྐུ་གསུམ, ku sum; Wylie: sku gsum; Chinese: 三身 / 三身, pinyin: sānshēn) = three kayas; having three bodies; in Mahayana Buddhism, refers to the three bodies or three aspects of a buddha:
(1) dharmakaya (“truth body”)
(2) sambhogakaya (“body of enjoyment”)
(3) nirmanakaya (“body of manifestations”)
• see also: kaya (body, dimension) ; rupakaya (form body)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / Digital Dictionary of Buddhism / dbpedia
≫ trilakshana (Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण, IAST: trilakṣaṇa = tri + lakṣaṇa, “mark, sign, symbol, token, characteristic, attribute, quality”; Pāli: तिलक्खण, IAST: tilakkhaṇa; Japanese: 三法印, sanbōin; Tibetan: ཕྱག་རྒྱ་གསུམ་, chak gya sum; Wylie: phyag rgya gsum, “three seals” or “three mudras”) = the 3 marks of existence: anicca (impermanence), dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) and anatta (non-self). According to Buddhism, these three characteristics are common to all phenomena and beings, and may therefore be said to describe the “truth” or “reality” of all existence. A central theme in the Buddhist Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path is that we are all subject to delusion (or ignorance or misunderstanding or denial) of the 3 marks (= 2nd Noble Truth), that this delusion results in suffering (= 1st Noble Truth), and that removal of this delusion results in the end of suffering (= 3rd Noble Truth). Buddhism offers a means to accomplish this removal of delusion, namely the Buddhist path (= 4th Noble Truth). In the Mahayana, a fourth characteristic or seal is added to the list of three, namely “nirvana is peace” (also translated as “nirvana is beyond extremes” or “nirvana is beyond description”). In his teaching “Return to Normal” Day 2 (Taipei, October 11, 2020), Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche explains the 3 marks as follows:
(1) anicca (impermanence); DJKR: “nothing is certain”.
(2) dukkha (unsatisfactoriness); DJKR: “nothing is one hundred percent satisfying”.
(3) anatta (non-self); DJKR: “nothing is how it appears”.
• see also: ariya atthangika magga (The Noble 8-fold path); cattari ariyasaccani (The 4 Noble Truths); chökyi domzhi (The 4 seals, a Mahayana elaboration of the 3 marks of existence)
• glossary: 3 marks of existence
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / dbpedia
≫ Tripitaka (Sanskrit: त्रिपिटक, IAST: Tripiṭaka, literally “three baskets”, from पिट, piṭa “basket”, which is from the root word √पिट्, piṭ “gathering together”; Pāli: तिपिटक, IAST: Tipiṭaka; Tibetan: སྡེ་སྣོད་གསུམ་, denö sum; Wylie: sde snod gsum; Burmese: ပိဋကတ် သုံးပုံ ; Chinese: 三藏, pinyin: sānzàng “three baskets”) = The Three Baskets, the traditional term for the Buddhist scriptures (originally referring to the receptacles that held the palm-leaf manuscripts). The version canonical to Theravada Buddhism is known as the Pali Canon. Mahayana Buddhism also holds the Tripitaka to be authoritative but, unlike the Theravada, it also includes in its canon other literature and commentaries that were composed much later. The Tripitaka was composed between about 550 BCE and about the start of the common era, and likely written down for the first time in the 1st century BCE during the reign of King Walagambahu of Sri Lanka. The three baskets or categories of teachings are:
(1) Vinaya (Sanskrit: विनयपिटक, Vinaya Piṭaka, IAST: vinayapiṭaka; Pāli: विनयपिटक, IAST: Vinaya Piṭaka) = Rules and regulations of monastic life, ranging from dress code and dietary rules to prohibition of certain personal conduct. The Vinaya appears to have grown gradually as a commentary and justification of the monastic code (Pratimoksha).
(2) Sutra (Sanskrit: सूत्रपिटक, Sūtra Piṭaka, IAST: sūtrapiṭaka; Pāli: सुत्तपिटक, IAST: Sutta Piṭaka) = The teachings of the Buddha, which were transmitted orally until they were written down. The oldest of the three baskets.
(3) Abhidharma (Sanskrit: अभिधर्मपिटक, Abhidharma Piṭaka, IAST: abhidharmapiṭaka; Pāli: अभिधम्मपिटक, IAST: Abhidhamma Piṭaka) = Philosophical and psychological analysis and interpretation of Buddhist doctrine, a later tradition of scholastic analysis and systematization of the contents of the Sutra Pitaka originating at least two centuries after the two other parts of the canon.
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / dbpedia
≫ trishiksha (Sanskrit: त्रिशिक्षा, IAST: triśikṣā = tri + śikṣā; Pāli: तिसिक्खा, IAST: tisikkhā; also known simply as Sanskrit: शिक्षा, IAST: śikṣā or Pali: सिक्खा, IAST: sikkhā; Tibetan: བསླབ་པ་གསུམ་, lap pa sum, Wylie: bslab pa gsum, “three trainings”; also: ལྷག་པའི་བསླབ་པ་གསུམ་, lhak pé lap pa sum; Wylie: lhag pa’i bslab pa gsum, “three special trainings”) = the 3-fold training in higher discipline/virtue, higher mind and higher wisdom (part of the Theravada canonical teachings from the Pali Canon). Pursuing this training leads to the abandonment of the three poisons (passion, aggression and ignorance or lust, hatred, and delusion). One who is fully accomplished in this training attains nirvana. The threefold training is also part of the bodhisattva training in the Mahayana (e.g. as mentioned by Nagarjuna in his Letter to a Friend, verse 53). The three aspects of the 3-fold training are:
(1) shila (moral discipline or virtue) = leads to abandonment of the poison of passion/lust;
(2) samadhi (contemplation/meditation) = leads to abandonment of the poison of aggression/hatred;
(3) prajña (discriminative awareness/wisdom) = leads to abandonment of the poison of ignorance/delusion.
• Buddhist terms: 3-fold training
• external links: wikipedia
Trisong Detsen (Tibetan) = redirects to Trisong Deutsen (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
≫ Trisong Deutsen (Tibetan: ཁྲི་སྲོང་དེའུ་བཙན་, Wylie: khri srong de’u btsan; also Tibetan: ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན, Wylie: khri srong lde btsan; also transliterated as “Trisong Detsen”) (790-844) = The second great Dharma king of Tibet who invited Guru Rinpoche, Shantarakshita, Vimalamitra, and many other Buddhist teachers to Tibet, thus playing a pivotal role in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and establishing the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Five Tertön Kings, the most important tertöns (treasure-revealers) are all considered emanations of King Trisong Deutsen.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ trivisha (Sanskrit: त्रिविष, trivisha; IAST = tri + viṣa, “poison, venom, anything actively pernicious”; Tibetan: དུག་གསུམ་, dug sum; Wylie: dug gsum) = the 3 poisons in the Mahayana, which are referred to in the Theravada tradition as the “three unwholesome roots” (Pāli: अकुसलमूल, IAST: akusalamūla; Sanskrit: अकुशलमूल, IAST: akuśalamūla = अकुशल akuśala “inauspicious, evil” +मूल mūla “root, basis, foundation”). In Sanskrit, these are:
(1) moha (Sanskrit & Pāli: मोह, IAST: moha) = delusion, confusion, bewilderment, ignorance.
(2) raga (Sanskrit: राग, IAST: rāga; Pāli: लोभ, IAST: lobha) = attachment, greed, avarice, desire, sensuality, passion.
(3) dvesha (Sanskrit: द्वेस्ह, IAST: dvesha; Pāli: दोस, IAST: dosa) = aversion, dislike, enmity, anger, hostility, aggression.
• see also: trivisha (3 poisons): (1) delusion, confusion, bewilderment, ignorance (Pāli/Sanskrit: moha), (2) attachment, greed, avarice, desire, sensuality, passion (Pāli: lobha, Sanskrit: raga), (3) aversion, dislike, enmity, anger, hostility, aggression (Pāli: dosa, Sanskrit: dvesha)
• see also: klesha (pain, affliction, trouble); pañchakleshavisha (the five poisons)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia
≫ trülpa (Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་པ་, trülpa; Wylie: sprul pa) = magical appearance, magically created appearance, apparition, emanation, manifestation, incarnation.
• see also: mayopama (metaphors for illusion); trülku (emanation body)
trülku (Tibetan) = redirects to tulku (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
≫ tsagen (Dzongkha: རྩ་འགེངས་; tsageng) = persevere, persist, try.
≫ Tsangpa Lhayi Metok (Tibetan: ཚངས་པ་ལྷ་ཡི་མེ་ཏོག་, tsang pa lha yi mé tok; Wylie: tshangs pa lha yi me tog) = “Divine flower of Brahma”, the secret name which King Trisong Deutsen received from Guru Padmasambhava during an empowerment at Samye Chimphu. One of the two names given to Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche by his paternal grandfather H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche (the other is Khyentse Norbu).
• see also (DJKR teaching): DJKR tells the story of his names in Return to Normal, Day 1, Taipei (October 10, 2020)
• external links: rywiki / Lotsawa House
≫ Tsangyang Gyatso (Tibetan: ཚངས་དབྱངས་རྒྱ་མཚོ, Wylie: tshangs dbyangs rgya mtsho) (1683-1702) = 6th Dalai Lama
• see also: Dalai Lama
• external links: wikipedia / Treasury of Lives / DalaiLama.com
≫ tsel (Tibetan: རྩལ་, Wylie: rtsal) = (1) skill, dexterity, adroitness, accomplishment, creativity, resourcefulness; (2) expressive power, expression, function, manifesting power, potency. (3) creative energy, dynamic energy (of being), potentiality.
• see also: tukjé (compassion)
≫ tsen (Tibetan: བཙན་, tsen; Wylie: btsan) = (1) powerful, strong, mighty; (2) species of demon, warlike nonhuman spirit.
≫ tsendzin (Tibetan: མཚན་འཛིན ; Wylie: mtshan ’dzin, shortened form of Tibetan: མཚན་མར་འཛིན་པ, Wylie: mtshan mar ‘dzin pa ; Sanskrit: निमित्तग्राह, IAST: nimittagrāha = nimitta “sign, mark” + grāha “seizing, holding”, also nimittodgrahana ; Chinese: 執相, pinyin: zhí xiàng) = fixation on characteristics., fixation on conceptual attributes, apprehension of signs, conception of signs. This refers to the defilement that remain to be purified by the bodhisattvas on the first bhumi and beyond. They are no longer samsaric beings because stye have already purified dendzin (clinging to phenomena as truly existent), but they still have dualistic clinging/perception until they attain enlightenment. The bodhisattvas on the eighth bhumi and beyond still have dendzin, but only in its most subtle manifestation as nyinang (mere apprehension).
• see also: dagdzin (self-clinging) ; dendzin (clinging to phenomena as truly existent) ; nyinang (mere apprehension, a subtle form of dualism that remains on the eighth bhumi)
• external links: rywiki
≫ tsen nam (Tibetan: མཚན་རྣམས, Wylie: mtshan rnams) = names.
≫ tshechu (Dzongkha: ཚེས་བཅུ་, tséchu ; Wylie: tshes bcu; literally “day ten”) = annual religious Bhutanese festivals held in each district or dzongkhag of Bhutan on the tenth day of a month of the lunar Tibetan calendar.
• external links: wikipedia
tsikché (Tibetan: ཚིགས་བཅད་, tsikché, Wylie: tshigs bcad) = stanza, verse – see shloka (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
≫ tsimpa (Tibetan: ཚིམ་པ་, tsimpa; Wylie: tshim pa) = satisfied, content, contented.
• see also: mi tsimpa (unsatisfied, not content)
≫ tsolché (Tibetan: རྩོལ་བཅས ; Wylie: rtsol bcas) = involving effort.
• see also: (contrasted with): tsolmé (effortless)
≫ tsolmé (Tibetan: རྩོལ་མེད ; Wylie: rtsol med) = effortless, without striving.
• see also: (contrasted with): tsolché (involving effort)
tsültrim (Tibetan: ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་, tsül trim ; Wylie: tshul khrims) = discipline, morality, ethical conduct – see shila (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• see also: tsültrim sum (the 3 kinds of discipline according to the Mahayana)
≫ tsültrim sum (Tibetan: ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་གསུམ་, tsül trim sum ; Wylie: tshul khrims gsum) = the 3 kinds of ethical conduct or discipline according to the Mahayana. These are:
(1) nyéchö dompé tsültrim (Tibetan: ཉེས་སྤྱོད་སྡོམ་པའི་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་, nyé chö dom pé tsül trim ; Wylie: nyes spyod sdom pa’i tshul khrims) = the ethical conduct or discipline of controlling transgressions (DJKR: “refraining from non-virtuous actions”).
(2) semchen dön jépé tsültrim (Tibetan: སེམས་ཅན་དོན་བྱེད་པའི་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་, sem chen dön jé pé tsül trim ; Wylie: sems can don byed pa’i tshul khrims) = the ethical conduct or discipline of benefitting sentient beings (DJKR: “helping others”).
(3) gewé chö düpé tsültrim (Tibetan: དགེ་བའི་ཆོས་སྡུད་པའི་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་, gewé chö dü pé tsül trim ; Wylie: dge ba’i chos sdud pa’i tshul khrims) = the ethical conduct or discipline of gathering virtuous dharmas (DJKR: “extracting virtue, extracting wisdom/prajña”).
• see also: shila (discipline, Sanskrit ≫ main entry for “discipline”) ; tsültrim (discipline)
• external links: rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ tsülzhin mayinpa yila jé (Tibetan: ཚུལ་བཞིན་མ་ཡིན་པ་ཡིད་ལ་བྱེད་པ་, tsül zhin ma yin pa yi la jé ; Wylie: tshul bzhin ma yin pa yid la byed pa) = wrong view, improper conceptual activity; DJKR: “having the wrong view, wrong ideas, basically being delusional I guess”.
≫ tsurtong (Tibetan: ཚུར་མཐོང་, Wylie: tshur mthong = ཚུར་ tshur “here, over here, on this side, inward” + མཐོང་ mthong “see, notice, perceive”) = seeing this side; one who sees nearby, i.e. ordinary person, common being, man in the street; samsaric outlook or view; DJKR: “someone who observes what is observable; basically, you don’t think beyond face value or whatever you see”.
≫ tukjé (Tibetan: ཐུགས་རྗེ་, Wylie: thugs rje) = compassion, compassionate energy, compassionate manifestation, compassionate expression; responsiveness. Honorific and exalted form of nyingjé (Sanskrit: karuna), often more specifically referring to the compassion of awakened beings. Also (as synonym of tsel): responsive energy, dynamic expression, dynamic capacity.
• see also: ngowo rangzhin tukjé (essence, nature and capacity)
≫ tulku (Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, trülku; Wylie: sprul sku) = (a) manifested body, emanation body, form body, nirmanakaya, (b) incarnate lama
• see also: nirmanakaya (form body) ; trülpa (magical appearance)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki