Link colours: external dictionaries in green, internal website links in light blue, external website links in dark blue
Y
≫ yab-yum (Tibetan: ཡབ་ཡུམ་, Wylie: yab yum) = literally “father-mother”, refers to the union of father and mother consorts, a common symbol in Indian and Himalayan Buddhist art. It represents the primordial union of wisdom and compassion, depicted as a male deity in union with his female consort. The male figure represents compassion and skillful means, while the female figure represents wisdom. Likewise, the union of wisdom and compassion is symbolized by the tantric implements of the bell and the dorje (vajra).
• see also: zungjuk (union, indivisibility, primordial unity)
• external links: wikipedia / Britannica
≫ yana (Sanskrit and Pāli: यान, IAST: yāna, etymology: from Proto-Indo-European *yéh₂-nom, from *yeh₂- “to go” ; Tibetan: ཐེག་པ་, tekpa ; Wylie: theg pa) = vehicle or method; “that which carries”; a mode or method of spiritual practice in Buddhism; used in particular to differentiate various schools of Buddhism according to their view and practice.
• see also: Ekayana (the Single Vehicle) ; Hinayana (the Lesser Vehicle) ; Mahayana (the Great Vehicle) ; Shravakayana (the Vehicle of the Shravakas) ; tekpa gu (the nine yanas according to the Nyingma classification of the Buddhist path) ; Theravada (the School of the Elders) ; Vajrayana (the Diamond Vehicle)
• external links: (yana): wiktionary / wikipedia ; (nine yanas in the Nyingma tradition): rigpawiki
≫ yangdak (Tibetan: ཡང་དག ; Wylie: yang dag ; Sanskrit: सम्यक्, IAST: samyak- or samyag-, from सम्यञ्च्, IAST: samyañc) = right, with the connotation of “authentic, real, genuine; perfect, excellent, correct, proper, in the right way; whole, entire, total, complete” rather than any moral/ethical connotation of right vs wrong. For example, we might talk of the “right” way to build the wall of a house so that it is vertical and straight. Each of the eight practices of the Noble Eightfold Path starts with this description, e.g. “right view”, “right intention” etc.
• see also: ariya atthangika magga (Noble Eightfold Path)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ yangsi (Tibetan: ཡང་སྲིད་, yang si ; Wylie: yang srid ; Sanskrit: पुनर्भव, IAST: punarbhava “new birth, transmigration” = पुनर् punar “again, once more, repeatedly” + भव bhava “come into existence, birth, production”) = reincarnation, rebirth; new / transmigrating existence. Jeffrey Hopkins has “further being, be again”. In Tibetan, the word yangsi is synonymous with khorwa (samsara or cyclic existence). DJKR: “reincarnation”, “continuity”, “seeming continuation”.
• see also: khorwa (samsara or cyclic existence)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia / Britannica
≫ ye (Tibetan: ཡེ་, yé ; Wylie; ye) = primordial, original, from the beginning, eternal.
• see also: yeshe (primordial wisdom)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ YE DHARMA HETU (Sanskrit: ये धर्मा हेतु; IAST: ye dharmā hetu = ये ye, from य ya, “of, who, which, that” + धर्मा dharmā “phenomenon” + हेतु hetu “cause, reason for”. The entire phrase might be translated “of caused phenomena” or “regarding caused phenomena” ; Tibetan: ཆོས་རྣམས་གང་དག ; Wylie: chos rnams gang dag) = the mantra or dharani of dependent origination (or “mantra of dependent arising”), a famous Sanskrit dharani widely used in ancient times and often carved on shrines and statues of the Buddha. The pronunciation of the complete mantra in English is: OM YE DHARMA HETU-PRABHAVA HETUM TESHAM TATHAGATO HYAVADAT TESHAM CHA YO NIRODHA EVAM VADI MAHASHRAMANAH SVAHA, which means “Of those phenomena which arise from causes, Those causes have been taught by the Tathāgata (Buddha), And their cessation too – thus proclaims the Great Ascetic”. These words were spoken by the monk Ashvajit when Shariputra asked him for a summary of the teachings of the Buddha. Upon hearing this, Shariputra attained the first path of “stream-enterer” (sotāpatti) and he later told them to his friend Maudgalyayana who also attained the state of “stream-enterer”. They then went to the Buddha, along with 500 of their followers, and asked to become his disciples.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / Nālandā Translation
≫ yenlak dün (Tibetan: ཡན་ལག་བདུན་, yenlak dün ; Wylie: yan lag bdun ; Sanskrit: सप्ताङ्ग, IAST: saptāṅga “consisting of seven members of parts”) = The Seven Branch Offering (the seven branches), which incorporates all the key points for gathering the accumulations of merit and wisdom. This offering appears in many practices, for example verses 1-12 of Samantabhadra’s King of Aspiration Prayers (the Pranidhana-Raja), and also as the first part of the practice of Guru Yoga in the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro.
• see also: Arya-Bhadracharya-Pranidhana-Raja (Samantabhadra’s King of Aspiration Prayers)
• external reading: Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher (Boston: Shambhala, Revised edition, 1998), pages 317-328.
• external links: rigpawiki
≫ yermé (Tibetan: དབྱེར་མེད་, yer mé ; Wylie: dbyer med ; Sanskrit: अभेद, IAST: abheda “absence of difference of distinction”, also अभिन्न, IAST: abhinna “unbroken”) = indivisibility, undifferentiatedness, inseparability; undivided.
• see also: ngowo rangzhin tukjé (essence, nature and capacity)
• external links: rigpawiki / rywiki / Study Buddhism
yeshe (Tibetan: ཡེ་ཤེས་, yéshé ; Wylie: ye shes) = wisdom, primordial wisdom – see jñana (Sanskrit ≫ main entry).
• see also: jñana (Sanskrit ≫ main entry) ; yeshe nga (five wisdoms)
• external links: wiktionary
≫ yeshe nga (Tibetan: ཡེ་ཤེས་ལྔ་, yeshe nga; Wylie: ye shes lnga ; Chinese: 五智, pinyin: wǔzhì) = the five wisdoms, five aspects of primordial wisdom (yeshe). The five wisdoms appear when the mind is purified of the five disturbing emotions, and the natural mind manifests without obstruction. The five wisdoms are associated with the five dhyani-buddhas and the five buddha families.
• see also: pañchabuddha (five dhyani-buddhas) ; pañchakula (five buddha families) ; yeshe (wisdom)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ yi (Tibetan: ཡིད ; Wylie: yid ; Sanskrit: मनस्, IAST: manas) = mind, sentience, ideational consciousness; the intellect, mental functioning, thought, subjective mind.
• note: cognisance (selcha / selwa, the cognisance/clarity that is an aspect of the nature of mind) is different from sentience (sem / yi, ordinary mental functioning). Therefore we can say that sentient beings have both sentience and cognisance, however enlightened buddhas have cognisance but they are not sentient beings.
• see also: selwa (clarity) ; sem (mind) ; shépa (consciousness, knowing)
• external links: (manas): wikipedia ; (sentient beings): wikipedia ; (sentience): wikipedia
≫ yidam (Tibetan: ཡི་དམ་, Wylie: yi dam ; Sanskrit: इष्टदेव, IAST: iṣṭadeva, often abbreviated to देव, deva) = meditational deity, considered to be a manifestation of buddhanature or enlightened mind; one of the three roots in Vajrayana Buddhism.
• see also: ngowo rangzhin tukjé (essence, nature and capacity)
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki
≫ yin-yang (Chinese: 陰陽, pinyin: yīnyáng, literally “dark-bright”, “negative-positive”) = a concept of dualism in Taoist philosophy that describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. It is often depicted using the tajitu, a circular black and white symbol or diagram.
• see also: nyidzin (dualism) ; tajitu (circular black and white symbol used to depict yin-yang) ; wei-ji (crisis; hidden danger or disaster)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia
≫ yoga (Sanskrit: योग, IAST: yoga ; Tibetan: རྣལ་འབྱོར་, naljor / nenjor; Wylie: rnal ‘byor) = joining, mixing, uniting, union (in tantra: “union in fundamental reality”); attaching, harnessing (of horses); application or concentration of the thoughts, abstract contemplation, meditation.
• see also: Guru Yoga (Tibetan Buddhist practice) ; yogi (practitioner of yoga)
• external links: wiktionary / wikipedia
≫ Yogachara (Sanskrit: योगाचार, yogachara, IAST: yogācāra, literally “one who practices yoga”; note that Sanskrit Dictionary has yogacāra instead of yogācāra; Tibetan: རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་, naljor chöpa / nenjor chöpa; Wylie: rnal ‘byor spyod pa ; Chinese: 瑜伽行派, pinyin: Yúqiéxíng pài) = a Mahayana school of philosophy and psychology established by Asanga in 4th century CE, also known as the Chittamatra (or “mind-only”) school. It emphasizes the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. It is also termed Vijñānavāda (the doctrine of consciousness) and Vijñaptivāda (the doctrine of ideas or percepts). There are several interpretations of this philosophy, some scholars see it as a type of Idealism, while others argue that it is closer to a type of phenomenology or representationalism. The Yogachara view continues to be influential in Tibetan Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki / rywiki / Digital Dictionary of Buddhism
≫ yogi (Sanskrit: योगि, IAST: yogi ; also: योगिन्, IAST: yogin ; Tibetan: རྣལ་འབྱོར་པ་, naljorpa / nenjorpa ; Wylie: rnal ‘byor pa) = a contemplative, devotee or ascetic; practitioner of yoga; endowed with, possession. A female practitioner of yoga is called a yogini.
• see also: yoga (joining, uniting)
• external links: wikipedia
yogin (Sanskrit) redirects to yogi.
≫ yogipratyaksha (Sanskrit: योगिप्रत्यक्ष, yogipratyaksha ; IAST: yogipratyakśa = yogi + pratyakṣa ; Tibetan: རྣལ་འབྱོར་མངོན་སུམ་, naljor ngönsum / nenjor ngönsum ; Wylie: rnal ‘byor mngon sum) = yogic direct perception, yogic bare cognition; fourth of the 4 kinds of direct perception or direct awareness.
• other languages: naljor ngönsum (Tibetan)
• see also: ngönsum zhi (4 kinds of direct perception) ; pratyaksha (direct perception) ; yogi (practitioner of yoga)
• external links (pratyaksha): wiktionary
≫ yongdu (Tibetan: ཡོངས་འདུ ; Wylie: yongs ‘du) = night-flowering jasmine. (Note: unverified, based on rywiki search for “night-flowering jasmine”, which yields yongs ‘du and yongs ‘dus). Possibly refers to Cestrum nocturnum, the “lady of the night” or night-blooming jasmine, which is grown in subtropical regions as an ornamental plant for its flowers that are heavily perfumed at night.
• appears in: Aspiration Week 7
• external links: (Cestrum nocturnum): wikipedia
≫ yönten (Tibetan: ཡོན་ཏན་, yön ten ; Wylie: yon tan ; Sanskrit: गुण, guna, IAST: guṇa) = quality, precious qualities, positive traits, value, capacities.
• external links: wiktionary
≫ Yönten Gyatso (Tibetan: ཡོན་ཏན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, yön ten gyatso or yön ten gyamtso ; Wylie: yon tan rgya mtsho ; Sanskrit: गुणसागर, Gunasagara “Ocean of Qualities” ; IAST: guṇasāgara = guṇa “qualities” + sāgara “ocean”) = “Ocean of Qualities”, the monastic name of Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé.
• external links: wikipedia / rigpawiki
≫ Yulo Köpé Zhing (Tibetan: གཡུ་ལོ་བཀོད་པའི་ཞིང, Wylie: g.yu lo bkod pa’i zhing) = the buddhafield of Tara, the Land of Turquoise Leaves (DJKR), Paradise Arrayed in Turquoise Petals.
• see also: zhing kham (buddhafield, pure land)
≫ yum (Tibetan: ཡུམ ; Wylie: yum) = mother; female consort; female principle.
≫ Yum Chenmo (Tibetan: ཡུམ་ཆེན་མོ་, Yum Chenmo ; Wylie: yum chen mo) = “Great Mother”, the personification of Prajñaparamita in the form of a bodhisattva. She is usually represented as a peaceful seated figure clothed in silks; her body is gold in color, and she has one face and four arms. Her first two arms rest in meditation posture in her lap, while the second right hand holds a vajra (symbolizing compassion and bliss) and the second left hand holds the text of the Heart Sutra (representing emptiness).
• see also: prajñaparamita
• external links: wikipedia / Sakyadhita / Himalayan Art