Link colours: external dictionaries in green, internal website links in light blue, external website links in dark blue
U
≫ uma shing tanyi (Tibetan: དབུ་མ་ཤིང་རྟ་གཉིས་, uma shing ta nyi; Wylie: dbu ma shing rta gnyis) = the “Two Chariots of Madhyamaka”, i.e. the two traditions of Nagarjuna and Asanga that have shaped the development of Mahayana Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. Nagarjuna in 2nd century CE founded the Madhyamaka school, which emphasizes emptiness and nonself. Asanga in 4th century CE founded the Yogachara school, which emphasizes cognition, perception and consciousness.
• external links: rywiki
upannikrama = common Tibetan (mis-)pronunciation of Sanskrit “utpattikrama” – see kyerim (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
≫ upasaka (Sanskrit: उपासक, IAST: upāsaka; Tibetan: དགེ་བསྙེན་, genyen / gé nyen; Wylie: dge bsnyen; Chinese: 優婆塞 / 优婆塞, pinyin: yōupósāi) = an adult lay male practitioner, devotee or disciple (female: upasika); layman. Originally meaning an attendant or servant, one of low caste, it became the name for a Buddhist layman who observes the five precepts (to avoid killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, and intoxicating liquor). Contrast with monastic Buddhists who are referred to as bhikshu (male) and bhikshuni (female).
• see also: bhikshu (male monastic); bhikshuni (female monastic); pañchashila (five precepts); upasika (female lay practitioner)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ upasika (Sanskrit: उपासिका; IAST: upāsikā; Tibetan: དགེ་བསྙེན་མ་, genyenma; Wylie: dge bsnyen ma; Chinese: 優婆夷 / 优婆夷, pinyin: yōupóyí) = an adult lay female practitioner, devotee or disciple (male: upasaka). For more information see upasaka.
• see also: bhikshu (male monastic); bhikshuni (female monastic); pañchashila (five precepts); upasika (female lay practitioner)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ upaya (Sanskrit: उपाय, IAST: upāya) = means, approach, device, craft. Often used to refer to upayakaushalya (skillful means).
• see also: thab ké (skilful means), upayakaushalya (skillful means).
• external links: wiktionary
upayakaushalya (Sanskrit: उपायकौशल्य, upaya-kaushalya; IAST: upāyakauśalya, from उपाय + कुशल, IAST: upāya + kuśala) = skillful means, skill in means, excellence in means – see thab ké (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
• see also: upaya (means, approach)
≫ upekkha (Pāli: उपेक्खाा, IAST: upekkhā; Sanskrit: उपेक्षा, IAST: upekṣā; Tibetan: བཏང་སྙོམས་, tangnyom; Wylie: btang snyoms) = equanimity, one of the four sublime states (brahmavihara). (The Sanskrit has a semantic range more oriented towards overlooking, disregard, negligence, indifference, contempt, abandonment). Upekkha is cultivated through dhyana (meditative concentration), and its most refined form is upekkha-sati-parishuddhi, a meditative “state of perfect equanimity and awareness” (= upekkha “equanimity” + sati “mindfulness/awareness” + parishuddhi “complete purification”), the 4th and final rūpa or “form” jhana; the fifth of the 6 paramitas.
• see also: brahmavihara (sublime attitude); caturapramana (4 immeasurables): (1) metta (loving-kindness), (2) karuna (compassion), (3) mudita (sympathetic joy), (4) upekkha (equanimity); bodhichitta (the compassionate wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings and also to bring them to that state); jukpa semkyé (bodhichitta in action); mönpa semkyé (bodhichitta of aspiration); shatparamita (6 paramitas)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia
≫ ushnisha (Sanskrit: उष्णीष, IAST: uṣṇīṣa; Burmese: ဥဏှိဿ) = the protuberance on the head of a buddha, one of the 32 major marks of the Buddha (the Sanskrit word also means anything wound round the head, hence also turban, diadem, crown). Later definitions of the 32 major marks elaborate that the ushnisha is covered with hairs that curl in the direction of the sun, and later still the ushnisha includes a flame that ascends from the middle of the protuberance.
• see also: mahapurisa lakkhana (the 32 major marks)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia
≫ Ushnishavijaya (Sanskrit: उष्णीषविजया, IAST: Uṣṇīṣavijayā, “Victorious One with Ushnisha”; Tibetan: གཙུག་གཏོར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་མ།, Tsuktor Namgyelma; Wylie: gtsug tor rnam par rgyal ma; Chinese: 佛頂尊勝佛母 also 尊勝佛頂) = a female deity of long life, one of the three deities of long life (along with Amitayus and White Tara), as well as one of the Twenty-One Taras. She is usually depicted as white in colour, with three faces and eight arms, holding a small buddha image in her upper right hand and wearing an image of Vairocana in her headdress. Since 1571 Namgyelma has been the namesake for Namgyal Monastery, the personal monastery of all the Dalai Lamas since its establishment by the 3rd Dalai Lama. The Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra (Chinese: 佛頂尊勝陀羅尼經, pinyin: Fódǐng zūnshèng tuóluóní jīng; also abbreviated as: 佛頂經, pinyin: Fódǐng jīng; Japanese: Butchō Sonshō Darani Kyō) is the Mantra of Usnishavijaya, a very important dharani in Chinese Buddhism. Both a Tang Dynasty Chinese Emperor and a Japanese Emperor (Emperor Seiwa, 清和天皇 850-881 CE) required all Buddhist monasteries in their countries to facilitate its practice, after it was believed to have brought rain to end two severe droughts.
• see also: Amitayus; Sitatara (White Tara)
• external links: (Ushnishavijaya): wikipedia / rigpawiki / Himalayan Art / Tara di Gesu ; (Ushnishavijaya dharani): wikipedia / Digital Dictionary of Buddhism
utpannakrama (Sanskrit: उत्पन्नक्रम, IAST: utpannakrama = उत्पन्न, utpanna = “arisen, born, produced” + क्रम, krama “step, stage”) = the “completion stage” of practice in Vajrayana Buddhism – see dzogrim (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
utpattikrama (Sanskrit: उत्पत्तिक्रम, IAST: utpattikrama = उत्पत्ति, utpatti “arising, birth, production” + क्रम, krama “step, stage”) = the “generation phase” or “development phase” of practice in Vajrayana Buddhism – see kyerim (Tibetan ≫ main entry).
Uttaratantra (Sanskrit: उत्तरतन्त्र, IAST: uttaratantra) = redirects to Uttaratantra-shastra (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
≫ Uttaratantra-shastra (Sanskrit: Mahāyānottaratantra Śāstra ; Tibetan: ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཆོས་ ; Wylie: theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos, usually shortened to རྒྱུད་བླ་མ, Gyü Lama, rgyud bla ma ; Chinese: full title 分別寶性大乘無上續論, more briefly written as 究竟一乘寶性論 ; pinyin: Jiùjìng yīshèng bǎoxìng lùn) = Treatise on the Sublime Continuum or Ratnagotravibhaga (Sanskrit: Ratnagotravibhāga) — one of the Five Treatises of Maitreya, a commentary on the teachings of the third turning of the wheel of Dharma explaining buddhanature. It is included among the so-called “Thirteen great texts”, which form the core of the curriculum in most shedras. DJKR taught this text over several years, and commented that while Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara focuses more on the “form is emptiness” aspect, the Uttaratantra-shastra focuses more on the “emptiness is form” aspect.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / Digital Dictionary of Buddhism