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དགོངས་པ་ངེས་འགྲེལ།

Unraveling the Intent
Chapter 9

Saṃdhi­nirmocana
འཕགས་པ་དགོངས་པ་ངེས་པར་འགྲེལ་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa dgongs pa nges par ’grel pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “Unraveling the Intent”
Āryasaṃdhinirmocana­nāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 106

Degé Kangyur, vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–55.b

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Translated by the Buddhavacana Translation Group (Vienna)
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2020

Current version v 1.0.27 (2025)

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
+ 5 sections- 5 sections
· Setting and Summary
· The Context
· Main Points of the Subject Matter
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· The Basis
· The Path
· The Result
· Source Text and Various Versions
· Translation Issues and Academic Research
+ 5 sections- 5 sections
· 1. Identifying and organizing source texts 
· 2. Evaluating the available translations
· 3. Checking intertextual patterns and delineating the scope of primary sources
· 4. Collating academic research
· 5. Organizing academic resources according to the text structure and specific translation issues
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Translating the text
tr. The Translation
+ 10 chapters- 10 chapters
p. Prologue
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Tibetan Sources
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Other Canonical Sources for Samdh.
· Other Sources
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

In Unraveling the Intent, the Buddha gives a systematic overview of his three great cycles of teachings, which he refers to in this text as the “three Dharma wheels” (tri­dharma­cakra). In the process of delineating the meaning of these doctrines, the Buddha unravels several difficult points regarding the ultimate and relative truths, the nature of reality, and the contemplative methods conducive to the attainment of complete and perfect awakening, and he also explains what his intent was when he imparted teachings belonging to each of the three Dharma wheels. In unambiguous terms, the third wheel is proclaimed to be of definitive meaning. Through a series of dialogues with hearers and bodhisattvas, the Buddha thus offers a complete and systematic teaching on the Great Vehicle, which he refers to here as the Single Vehicle.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translation by the Buddhavacana Translation Group.

The text was translated by Gregory Forgues and edited by Casey Kemp. With special thanks to Harunaga Isaacson, Matthew Kapstein, Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Jonathan Silk, Lambert Schmithausen, Tom Tillemans, and William Waldron for their helpful comments and advice.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.


ac.­2

The generous sponsorship of Qiang Li (李强) and Ya Wen (文雅), which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.


i.

Introduction

Setting and Summary

i.­1

In Unraveling the Intent, the Buddha gives a systematic overview of his three great cycles of teachings, which he refers to in this text as the “three Dharma wheels” (tri­dharma­cakra). In the process of delineating the meaning of these doctrines, the Buddha unravels several difficult points regarding the ultimate and relative truths, the nature of reality, and the contemplative methods conducive to the attainment of complete and perfect awakening, and he also explains what his intent was when he imparted teachings belonging to each of the three Dharma wheels. Through a series of dialogues with hearers and bodhisattvas, the Buddha thus offers a complete and systematic teaching on the Great Vehicle, which he refers to here as the Single Vehicle .

The Context

Main Points of the Subject Matter

The Basis

The Path

The Result

Source Text and Various Versions

Translation Issues and Academic Research

1. Identifying and organizing source texts 

2. Evaluating the available translations

3. Checking intertextual patterns and delineating the scope of primary sources

4. Collating academic research

5. Organizing academic resources according to the text structure and specific translation issues

Translating the text


Text Body

The Translation
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra
Unraveling the Intent

p.

Prologue

[F.1.b]


p.­1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!


Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in an unfathomable palace, built with the blazing seven precious substances,34 that emitted35 great light rays suffusing countless universes.36 Each of its rooms was well arranged and its design was infinite. It was the undivided maṇḍala, the domain transcending the three worlds. Arising from the supreme roots of virtue of the one who transcends the world,37 it was characterized by the perfectly pure cognition of the one who has achieved complete mastery.38 Abode of the Tathāgata where the assembly of innumerable bodhisattvas gathered, it was attended by countless gods, nāgas, [F.2.a] yakṣas, gandharvas, demigods, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans. Supported by the great joy and bliss of savoring the Dharma and designed to accomplish the complete welfare of all beings, it was free of any harm caused by the stains of afflictions and clear of any demon. Surpassing all manifestations, this unfathomable palace was displayed by the sovereign power of the Tathāgata. Mindfulness, intelligence, and realization were its pathway;39 mental stillness and insight were the vehicle leading to it; the great gates of liberation‍—emptiness, appearancelessness, and wishlessness‍—were its entrance. It was set on foundations adorned with an infinite accumulation of excellent qualities, which were like great kings of jeweled lotuses.40


1.

Chapter 1

1.­1

At that time, the bodhisattva Vidhi­vatpari­pṛcchaka questioned the bodhisattva Gam­bhīrārtha­saṃdhi­nirmo­cana on the ultimate whose defining characteristic is inexpressible and nondual:53 “O son of the Victorious One, when it is said that all phenomena are nondual, what are these phenomena? In what way are they nondual?”

Gam­bhīrārtha­saṃdhi­nirmo­cana replied, “Noble son, all phenomena, what we refer to as all phenomena, are of just two kinds: conditioned and unconditioned. With respect to these, the conditioned is neither conditioned nor unconditioned. The unconditioned is neither unconditioned nor conditioned.”


2.

Chapter 2

2.­1

Then the bodhisattva Dharmodgata spoke these words: “Blessed One, very long ago in ancient times, beyond as many universes as there are grains of sand in seventy-seven Ganges rivers, I was residing in the world Kīrtimat of the tathāgata Viśālakīrti. There I saw 7,700,000 non-Buddhists, together with their teachers, who had gathered in one place to consider the ultimate defining characteristic of phenomena.65 [F.5.b] Although they had examined, analyzed, investigated, and considered in detail the ultimate defining characteristic of phenomena, they did not understand it. They had changing opinions, lacked certainty, and were slow-witted as well as argumentative. Insulting one another with harsh words, they became abusive, agitated, unprincipled, and violent. Then, Blessed One, I thought to myself, ‘This is so sad, and yet, how marvelous, how wonderful are the manifestations of the tathāgatas in the world and, through their manifestations, the realization and actualization of the ultimate whose defining characteristic is beyond all speculation!’ ”66


3.

Chapter 3

3.­1

Then the bodhisattva Su­viśuddha­mati addressed the Blessed One, “Blessed One, at an earlier time, you spoke these words: ‘The ultimate is subtle and profound. Characterized as transcending what is distinct or indistinct74 [from conditioned phenomena], it is difficult to understand.’ How wonderful indeed are these words of yours! Blessed One, regarding this point, I once saw many bodhisattvas who, having attained the stage of engagement through aspiration,75 assembled in one place to discuss in the following way whether conditioned phenomena and the ultimate are distinct or indistinct. Among them, some declared, ‘The defining characteristic of conditioned phenomena and the defining characteristic of the ultimate are indistinct.’76 Others replied, ‘It is not the case that the defining characteristic of conditioned phenomena and the defining characteristic of the ultimate are indistinct, for they are distinct indeed.’ [F.7.a] Some others, who were perplexed and lacked certainty, said, ‘Some pretend that the defining characteristic of conditioned phenomena and the defining characteristic of the ultimate are distinct. Some pretend that they are indistinct. Which bodhisattvas speak the truth? Which speak falsity? Which are mistaken? Which are not?’ Blessed One, I thought to myself, ‘So, none of these noble sons understands the ultimate whose subtle defining characteristic transcends whether it is distinct or indistinct from conditioned phenomena. These bodhisattvas are truly77 naive, confused, dull, unskilled, and mistaken.’ ”


4.

Chapter 4

4.­1

Then the Blessed One spoke these words to Subhūti: “Subhūti, do you know how many beings in the world90 display their knowledge91 under the influence of conceit? Do you know how many beings in the world display their knowledge without conceit?”

Subhūti answered, “Blessed One, according to my knowledge, there are only a few in the world of beings who present their knowledge without conceit, but countless, innumerable, and inexpressible in number are those who do so under its influence. Blessed One, at one time I was staying in a hermitage set in a great forest. There were many monks living in the vicinity who had also established themselves there. At sunrise, I saw them gather together. They showed their knowledge and revealed their understanding by taking various aspects of phenomena as referential objects.92


5.

Chapter 5

5.­1

Then, the bodhisattva Viśālamati asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when bodhisattvas who are skilled in the secrets of mind, thought, and cognition are called ‘skilled in the secrets of mind, thought, and cognition,’ what does it mean?101 When they are designated in this way, what does it refer to?”

The Blessed One answered, “Viśālamati, you are asking this for the benefit and happiness of many beings, out of compassion for the world, and for the welfare, benefit, and happiness of all beings, including gods and humans. Your intention is excellent when questioning the Tathāgata on this specific point. Therefore, listen, Viśālamati. I will explain to you in which way bodhisattvas are skilled in the secrets of mind, thought, and cognition.


6.

Chapter 6

6.­1

Then, the bodhisattva Guṇākara asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when bodhisattvas who are skilled in the defining characteristics of phenomena are called ‘skilled in the defining characteristics of phenomena,’ what does it mean? Moreover, when the Tathāgata designates them as such, what does it refer to?”

6.­2

The Blessed One replied to the bodhisattva Guṇākara, “Guṇākara, for the benefit and happiness of many beings, out of compassion for the world, for the welfare, benefit, and happiness of all beings, including gods and humans, you are asking this. Your intention is excellent when questioning the Tathāgata on this specific point. Therefore, listen, Guṇākara, I will explain to you in which way bodhisattvas are skilled in the defining characteristics of phenomena.


7.

Chapter 7

7.­1

At that time, the bodhisattva Para­mārtha­samud­gata asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when I was alone in a secluded place, I had the following thought: ‘The Blessed One also spoke in many ways of the defining characteristic specific to the five aggregates, mentioning the defining characteristic of their arising, disintegration, abandonment, and comprehension.137 In the same way, he spoke of the twelve sense domains, dependent arising, and the four kinds of sustenance. The Blessed One also spoke in many ways of the defining characteristic of the four noble truths, mentioning the comprehension of suffering, the abandoning of the cause of suffering, the actualization of the cessation of suffering, and the practice of the path. The Blessed One also spoke in many ways of the defining characteristic specific to the eighteen constituents, mentioning their varieties, manifoldness, abandonment, and comprehension. The Blessed One also spoke in many ways of the defining characteristic specific to the four applications of mindfulness, mentioning their adverse factors, antidotes, practice, their arising from being non-arisen, their remaining after they arose, and their maintaining, resuming, or increasing. Similarly, he also spoke in many ways of the defining characteristic specific to the four correct self-restraints, the four bases of supernatural powers, the five faculties, the five forces, and the seven branches of awakening. [F.16.b] The Blessed One also spoke in many ways of the defining characteristic specific to the eight branches of the path, mentioning their adverse factors, antidotes, and practices, their arising from being non-arisen and remaining after they arose, and their maintaining, resuming, or increasing.’


8.

Chapter 8

8.­1

Then, the bodhisattva Maitreya asked a question to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when bodhisattvas practice mental stillness and insight in the Great Vehicle, what is their support and basis?”

The Blessed One answered, “Maitreya, their support and basis are the discourses teaching Dharma and the constant aspiration to attain the unsurpassable, complete and perfect awakening.

8.­2

“The Blessed One taught that four things are the referential objects of mental stillness and insight: the image with conceptualization; the image without conceptualization; the point where phenomena end; and the accomplishment of the goal.”


9.

Chapter 9

9.­1

Then the bodhisattva Avaloki­teśvara addressed the Blessed One, “Blessed One, the ten stages of the bodhisattva are called (1) Utmost Joy, (2) Stainless, (3) Illuminating, (4) Radiant, (5) Hard to Conquer, (6) Manifest, (7) Far Reaching, (8) Immovable, (9) Excellent Intelligence, and (10) Cloud of Dharma. When taken together with the eleventh, [called] Buddha Stage, in how many kinds of purification and subdivisions are they included?”

9.­2

The Blessed One answered, “Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that they are included in four kinds of purification and eleven subdivisions.

“Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that the first stage is included in the purification of intention; the second, in the purification of superior discipline; and the third, in the purification of superior mind; while stages four to eleven are included in the purification of superior wisdom, which gradually leads to perfection from stage to stage. These stages are thus included in four kinds of purification.

9.­3

“What are the eleven levels‍—the subdivisions including the ten stages of the bodhisattva and the Buddha Stage?

1. “On the first level consisting of actions based on superior265 devotion, bodhisattvas cultivate superior devotion and patience266 by engaging in the ten practices related to Dharma.267 Once they have passed beyond this stage, they will enter the faultless state of truth of the bodhisattvas.268

2. “Although the first level is accomplished by these practices, [F.39.b] the second level is not, because the bodhisattvas are still unable to act while being aware of confusion resulting from subtle transgressions. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

3. “Although the second level is accomplished by this practice, the third level is not, because the bodhisattvas are still unable to settle into a perfect mundane concentration and recollect what they have heard. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

4. “However, the fourth level is not thereby accomplished, because the bodhisattvas, who frequently engage in practicing the awakening factors269 in the way they obtained them, are still unable to settle their minds due to attachment to states of absorption and the teaching.270 By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

5. “Although the fourth level is accomplished through this practice, the fifth level is not, because the bodhisattvas are still unable to fully examine the truths or settle in superior equanimity regarding saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, which they exclusively reject or focus upon, respectively. They are still unable to practice the awakening factors in conjunction with skillful means. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

6. “Although the fifth level is accomplished by this practice, the sixth level is not, because, even once they have recognized the activities of conditioned states for what they are, the bodhisattvas are still unable to maintain for long an aversion toward them. They are also still unable to remain for long directing their attention toward what lacks phenomenal appearances. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

7. “Although the sixth level is accomplished by this practice, the seventh level is not, because the bodhisattvas are still unable to remain without hindrance and interruption while directing their attention toward what lacks phenomenal appearance. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed. [F.40.a]

8. “Although the seventh level is accomplished by this practice, the eighth level is not, because the bodhisattvas are still unable to rest in equanimity while striving to abide in what lacks phenomenal appearance. They are also still unable to attain mastery over phenomenal appearance. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

9. “Although the eighth level is accomplished by this practice, the ninth level is not because the bodhisattvas are still unable to masterfully teach the Dharma in all its aspects by using synonyms, definitions, explanations, and categories. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

10. “Although the ninth level is accomplished by this practice, the tenth level is not because the bodhisattvas are still unable to obtain the analytical knowledge of the perfect truth body. By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

11. “Although the tenth level is accomplished by this practice, the eleventh level is not because the bodhisattvas are still unable to obtain the gnosis and vision that are utterly free from attachment and hindrance regarding all cognitive objects.271 By striving to accomplish this level, they will succeed.

“Since this level is accomplished by this practice, all levels are accomplished. Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that all the stages are included in these eleven levels.”

9.­4

“Blessed One, why is the first stage called Utmost Joy? Why are the other stages up to the Buddha Stage called what they are?”

1. “The first stage is called Utmost Joy because there is a supreme and immense joy in attaining the immaculate and sublime purpose, the supramundane mind.

2. The second stage is called Stainless because it is free from all stains consisting in [even] subtle transgressions or faulty discipline.272

3. The third stage is called Illuminating because it is the very state of concentration and recollection imbued with the immeasurable light of gnosis.273 [F.40.b]

4. The fourth stage is called Radiant because the fire of gnosis produced by the practice of the awakening factors is set ablaze274 in order to burn the fuel of afflictions.

5. The fifth stage is called Hard to Conquer because it is difficult indeed to master the practice of these very awakening factors in conjunction with skillful means.275

6. The sixth stage is called Manifest because the activity of conditioning mental factors becomes manifest, as does the bodhisattvas’ attention that is repeatedly directed toward what lacks phenomenal appearance.

7. The seventh stage is called Far Reaching because once the bodhisattvas engage for a long time without hindrance and interruption while directing their attention toward what lacks phenomenal appearance, this stage is connected with the subsequent stages of purification.

8. The eighth stage is called Immovable because what lacks phenomenal appearance is spontaneously accomplished and the bodhisattvas are unshaken by the manifestation of defilements resulting from phenomenal appearance.

9. The ninth stage is called Excellent Intelligence because the bodhisattvas obtain a vast intelligence that flawlessly masters all aspects related to teaching the Dharma.

10. The tenth stage is called Cloud of Dharma because the body afflicted by corruption, which is as empty as the sky, is pervaded and covered by the accumulation of Dharma276 that is like a [great] cloud.277

11. The eleventh stage is called Buddha Stage because once one has abandoned the most subtle defiling and cognitive obstructions, one completely and perfectly awakens and knows all aspects to be known,278 without attachment and hindrance.”

9.­5

“Blessed One, how many kinds of delusion and adverse factors of corruption are there on these stages?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, there are twenty-two kinds of delusion and eleven adverse factors of corruption:

1. “On the first stage, there is the delusion of wrongly conceiving the person and phenomena, the delusion of bad destinies, and the adverse factor of the corruption resulting from these.

2. “On the second stage, there is the delusion of confusion resulting from subtle transgressions, [F.41.a] the delusion related to the various aspects of the maturation of karma, and the adverse factor of the corruption resulting from these two.

3. “On the third stage, there is the delusion of desire, the delusion of perfectly remembering what was heard, and the adverse factor of the corruption resulting from these.

4. “On the fourth stage, there is the delusion of attachment to the states of absorption, the delusion of attachment to Dharma, and the adverse factor of the corruption resulting from these.

5. “On the fifth stage, there is the delusion of attending to saṃsāra as exclusively negative or positive, the delusion of attending to nirvāṇa as exclusively negative or positive, and the adverse factor of the corruption resulting from these.

6. “On the sixth stage, there is the delusion of making manifest the activity of conditioning mental factors, the delusion of the many manifesting phenomenal appearances, and the adverse factor of corruption resulting from these.279

7. “On the seventh stage, there is the delusion of the manifestation of subtle phenomenal appearances, the delusion toward skillful means since one’s attention is exclusively directed toward what lacks phenomenal appearance, and the adverse factor of the corruption resulting from these.

8. “On the eighth stage, there is the delusion of exerting oneself toward what lacks phenomenal appearance, the delusion of not having mastery over phenomenal appearances, and the adverse factor of the corruption resulting from these.

9. “On the ninth stage, there is the delusion of having mastery in the boundless teaching and expression of Dharma, the delusion of having mastery in continuously keeping it in mind in terms of wisdom and eloquence,280 the delusion of having command of eloquent speech, and the adverse factor consisting in the corruption resulting from these two types of delusion.

10. “On the tenth stage, there is the delusion with regard to the sublime superior knowledge, the delusion of engaging in what is secret and subtle, and the adverse factor consisting of the corruption resulting from these two.

11. “On the Buddha Stage, there is the delusion of the extremely subtle attachment to cognitive objects, the delusion of the extremely subtle hindrance related to defilements, and the adverse factor consisting of the corruption resulting from these two. [F.41.b]

“Avaloki­teśvara, this is a presentation of the stages according to twenty-two kinds of delusion and eleven types of corruption. The unsurpassable, complete and perfect awakening does not have any of them.”

“In which case,281 Blessed One, the unsurpassable, complete and perfect awakening, the most sublime blessing and result, is truly wondrous! Once bodhisattvas have torn the great net of delusion in this fashion and gone beyond the vast jungle of corruption, they will awaken to the complete and perfect enlightenment.”282

9.­6

“Blessed One, through how many kinds of purifications are these stages presented?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, they are presented through eight purifications: (1) the purification of intention, (2) the purification of the mind, (3) the purification of compassion, (4) the purification of the perfections, (5) the purification of the vision of buddhas and of their veneration, (6) the purification of bringing beings to maturity, (7) the purification of birth, and (8) the purification of power.

“Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that the purifications on the first stage, from the purification of superior intention up to the purification of power, as well as the purifications on the higher stages including the Buddha Stage, from the purification of superior intention up to the purification of power, become more and more intense.283 Thus, if one excepts the purification of birth on the Buddha Stage, the qualities on the first stage seem similar to those of the higher stages. However, you should know that the qualities of each higher stage are superior to those on the former stage. You should also understand that the qualities on the ten stages of a bodhisattva can be surpassed, whereas the qualities on the Buddha Stage are unsurpassable.”

9.­7

“Blessed One, why did you declare that, among all kinds of birth, the birth of a bodhisattva is supreme?” [F.42.a]

“Avaloki­teśvara, it is supreme for four reasons: (1) it accomplishes the great purification of one’s roots of virtue, (2) it is appropriated as a result of mental inspection, (3) it is imbued with the compassion that protects all beings, and (4) it is not itself afflicted, but it repels the afflictions of others.”

9.­8

“Blessed One, why did you declare that bodhisattvas practice with a vast aspiration, are sublime, have a sublime aspiration, and possess the force of aspiration?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, [I declared this] for four reasons: (1) bodhisattvas are skilled with respect to the blissful state of nirvāṇa, (2) they are able to attain it swiftly, (3) they have both given up this swift attainment and this blissful state, and (4) without wavering or being compelled,284 they mentally produce the aspiration to go for a long time through many kinds of suffering for the sake of beings. Therefore, I said that bodhisattvas possess a vast aspiration, a sublime aspiration, and the force of aspiration.”

9.­9

“Blessed One, how many foundations of training do the bodhisattvas have?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, they have six: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative absorption, and wisdom.”

“Blessed One, among those six, how many constitute the training in superior discipline, how many constitute the training in superior mind, and how many constitute the training in superior wisdom?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that the first three constitute the training in superior discipline, meditative absorption constitutes the training in superior mind, wisdom constitutes the training in superior wisdom, and diligence is present in each of these trainings.” [F.42.b]

“Blessed One, how many of these foundations of training constitute the accumulation of merit? How many constitute the accumulation of gnosis?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, the training in superior discipline constitutes the accumulation of merit. The training in superior wisdom constitutes the accumulation of gnosis. Diligence and meditative absorption are present in both.”

“Blessed One, how do bodhisattvas train in these six foundations of training?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, they train in these six foundations of training according to five points: (1) by having devotion from the beginning for the teaching of the pure Dharma, for the teaching of the six perfections, and for the collection of teachings on the bodhisattva [path]; (2) by accomplishing next the wisdom arising from hearing, contemplating, and practicing [the truth] through the ten activities related to Dharma; (3) by preserving the awakening mind; (4) by relying upon a virtuous friend; and (5) by continuously practicing virtue.”

“Blessed One, why are the foundations of training known in terms of a sixfold classification?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, there are two reasons: (1) they benefit beings and (2) they are antidotes to defilements. You should know that, among them, three benefit beings while three are antidotes to defilements.

1. “Through their generosity, bodhisattvas benefit beings by providing them with what is necessary to life; through their discipline, they benefit beings by not impoverishing them, harming them, or ridiculing them; and through their patience, they benefit beings by enduring impoverishment, harm, and ridicule. Thus, they benefit beings through these three foundations of training.

2. “Through their diligence they apply themselves to the virtue that completely overcomes defilements and eliminates them, since defilements are unable to deflect them from this practice; through their meditative absorption [F.43.a] they destroy defilements; and through their wisdom they put an end to their latent dispositions. Thus, these three foundations of training are antidotes to defilements.”

9.­10

“Blessed One, why are the other perfections known in terms of a fourfold classification?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, it is because they assist these six perfections:

1. “With the first three perfections, bodhisattvas benefit beings. Then, they establish beings in virtue through the skillful means consisting of the four methods of conversion. Therefore, I taught that the perfection of skillful means assists the first three perfections.

2. “Avaloki­teśvara, suppose the bodhisattvas are unable to practice at all times in this life as a result of their many defilements. Suppose they are unable to focus their minds within due to the weakness of their superior intention as a result of their limited experience285 and aspiration. Suppose they are unable to accomplish the supramundane wisdom because they did not practice the meditative absorption based on the referential objects corresponding to the teachings on the bodhisattva path they have heard. However, since they have accumulated merit, even to a limited extent, they produce with their minds the aspiration that their defilements will decrease in the future. This is the perfection of aspiration. Because defilements decrease and bodhisattvas are able to exert their diligence through this perfection, the perfection of aspiration therefore assists the perfection of diligence.

3. “Then, relying on a noble being and on hearing the Dharma, they attain the state in which they direct their attention on discipline. Once they have turned away from having a superior intention whose power is limited, they obtain the power of intention of the heavenly realms.286 This is the perfection of power. Because bodhisattvas are able to focus on their minds within through this perfection, the perfection of power therefore assists the perfection of meditative absorption. [F.43.b]

4. “The bodhisattvas settle in meditative absorption as they practice the referential objects corresponding to the teachings on the bodhisattva path they have heard. This is the perfection of wisdom. Because bodhisattvas are able to accomplish supramundane wisdom through this perfection, the perfection of gnosis therefore assists the perfection of wisdom.”

9.­11

“Blessed One, why should one know that the six perfections are taught in this order?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, it is because the former is the support on which the latter is established, and so on and so forth. By not fixating on their bodies and possessions, bodhisattvas acquire discipline. By maintaining their discipline, they take possession of patience. Through patience, they engage in diligence. By having engaged in diligence, they establish meditative absorption. Once meditative absorption is established, they will obtain the supramundane wisdom.”

9.­12

“Blessed One, of how many kinds are these perfections?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, each of these perfections is of three kinds:

1. “The three kinds of generosity are the gift of Dharma, the gift of material objects, and the gift of fearlessness.

2. “The three kinds of discipline are the discipline that turns away from what is not virtuous, the discipline that engages in virtue, and the discipline that engages in benefiting beings.

3. “The three kinds of patience are the patience of enduring harm, the patience of not considering [one’s own] suffering, and the patient acceptance of Dharma by means of reflection.287

4. “The three kinds of diligence are the diligence that is like armor, the diligence to practice virtue, and the diligence to benefit beings.

5. “The three kinds of meditative absorption are the meditative absorption of blissful abiding that, nonconceptual and peaceful, is an antidote to defilements and suffering, the meditative absorption that brings about good qualities, and the meditative absorption that accomplishes the welfare of beings. [F.44.a]

6. “The three kinds of wisdom are the wisdom that takes the conventional truth as its referential object, the wisdom that takes the ultimate truth as its referential object, and the wisdom that takes the welfare of beings as its referential object.”

9.­13

“Blessed One, why are the perfections called ‘perfections’?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, this is for five reasons. The perfections are without attachment, disinterested, free from faults, nonconceptual, and dedication of merit:

1. “Being without attachment, they are completely devoid of attachment to factors adverse to themselves.

2. “Being disinterested, they are free from thoughts fixating on results or on some reward obtained from their accomplishment.

3. “Being free from faults, they are not involved with afflicted phenomena and lack unskillful means.

4. “Being nonconceptual, they are free from any literal assumption of having a defining characteristic specific to them.

5. “Being dedication of merit, they are the aspiration for the result of the bodhisattva path by having produced and accumulated288 these perfections.”

9.­14

“Blessed One, what are the factors adverse to the perfections?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that there are six factors: (1) considering as beneficial the joy produced by desirous objects, (2) indulging into pleasurable activities through one’s body, speech, or mind, (3) not enduring contempt with patience, (4) invoking merit to justify one’s lack of diligence, (5) being distracted by occupations, entertainment, and people, and (6) considering as beneficial the conventional mental elaborations arising from what one sees, hears, thinks, or is conscious of.”

9.­15

“Blessed One, what is the result of the maturation of these perfections?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, [F.44.b] you should know that there are six: (1) great wealth, (2) rebirth in pleasant destinies, (3) happiness and satisfaction from peace and concord, (4) sovereignty over beings, (5) the absence of physical harm, and (6) the renown of having great powers.”

9.­16

“Blessed One, how are these perfections involved with afflicted phenomena?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, they are involved through four practices: (1) the practice of the perfections without compassion, (2) the improper practice of the perfections, (3) the irregular practice of the perfections, and (4) the negligent practice of the perfections.

“The improper practice of the perfections occurs when the practice of one of these perfections impairs the practice of the other perfections.”

9.­17

“Blessed One, what are unskillful means?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, the bodhisattvas assist beings by means of these perfections. If they do not establish beings in virtue once they have pulled them from nonvirtuous states and instead are satisfied to merely provide material objects to them, this is unskillful means. Why? Avaloki­teśvara, one does not assist beings by merely doing this. It is like this: excrements, whether in large or small quantity, cannot be made to smell good by any method289 whatsoever. Likewise, no method that merely supports beings with material objects can make happy those who are suffering because their nature is to experience the suffering arising from being conditioned.290 In contrast, establishing them in virtue is the best and only way to benefit them.”

9.­18

“Blessed One, how many kinds of purification are [included] in these perfections?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, I did not state that there were other purifications apart from the five kinds [I have already mentioned].291 However, in relation to what I have already explained, [F.45.a] I will clarify for you the (1) general and (2) specific purifications included in the perfections.

1. “You should know that the general purifications that are common to all perfections include seven points: (1) bodhisattvas do not seek to make a profit from others through the teachings on the bodhisattva path; (2) they do not produce wrong conceptions with regard to these teachings; (3) with respect to these teachings, they do not give rise to indecision or doubts as to whether they will attain awakening or not; (4) they do not praise themselves, nor do they blame others or despise them; (5) they do not generate arrogance or carelessness; (6) they are not satisfied with only limited or inferior attainments; and (7) they are not stingy or envious of others because of these teachings.

2. “You should know that the purifications specific to each perfection also includes seven points:

“The seven points of the purification included in the perfection of generosity are as follows: (1) bodhisattvas practice generosity that is the purification of generosity through the purification292 of the object that is the gift, and (2–7) they practice generosity that is the purification of generosity through the purification of discipline, view, mind, speech, knowledge, and stains. Thus, as I have just explained, the purifications included in the perfection of generosity that bodhisattvas obtain and practice constitute the seven aspects of the purification of generosity.

“The seven points of the purification included in the perfection of discipline are as follows: (1) bodhisattvas are skilled in all aspects of the foundation of training related to vows, (2) they are skilled in removing transgressions, (3) their discipline is free from doubts, (4) they have a firm discipline, (5) they maintain discipline in all circumstances, (6) they engage in discipline at all times, and (7) they engage in the training by correctly practicing the foundations of training. These are the seven aspects of the purification of discipline.

“The seven points of the purification included in the perfection of patience are as follows: (1) when confronted with any kind of adversity, bodhisattvas do not waver because they are confident in the maturation of their karma; [F.45.b] (2) they do not engage in harming others by abusing, insulting, striking, intimidating, or criticizing them in order to retaliate; (3) they do not hold grudges; (4) when accused,293 they do not give rise to defilements; (5) they themselves do not indulge in accusations; (6) they do not practice patience with a mind that is fearful of consequences or interested; and (7) they do not fail to accomplish others’ benefit. These are the seven purifications of patience.

“The seven points of the purification included in the perfection of diligence are as follows: (1) bodhisattvas understand the equanimity of diligence; (2) with reference to diligence, they neither praise themselves nor deprecate others; (3–6) they are powerful, diligent, enthusiastic, and resolute; and (7) they never cease to be diligent with respect to virtuous qualities. These are the seven purifications of diligence.

“The seven points of the purification included in the perfection of meditative absorption are (1) the meditative absorption in the concentration that understands phenomenal appearance, (2) the perfect meditative absorption in concentration, (3) the meditative absorption in the concentration that has these two aspects, (4) the meditative absorption in the spontaneously arising concentration, (5) the meditative absorption in the concentration without support, (6) the meditative absorption in the concentration that produces flexibility, and (7) the meditative absorption in the concentration in the boundless practice of the referential objects corresponding to the teachings on the bodhisattva path. These are the seven purifications of meditative absorption.

“The seven points of the purification included in the perfection of wisdom are as follows: (1) Once they have abandoned the extremes of superimposition and negation by means of wisdom, bodhisattvas emerge [from cyclic existence] through the middle path. (2) On account of this wisdom, they realize the very meaning of the gate to liberation exactly as it is, namely, the threefold gate to liberation: emptiness, wishlessness, and appearancelessness. (3) They realize exactly as it is the very meaning of essence, namely, the threefold essence: the imaginary, the other-dependent, and the actual. (4) They realize exactly as it is the very meaning of essencelessness, namely, the threefold essencelessness regarding defining characteristics, arising, and the ultimate. [F.46.a] (5) They realize exactly as it is the very meaning of the conventional truth in relation to the five sciences.294 (6) They realize exactly as it is the very meaning of the ultimate truth with respect to the seven aspects of true reality. (7) They frequently abide in the unique approach of the nonconceptual state free of mental elaborations. By means of the insight that takes countless universal teachings as its referential object, they correctly accomplish the attainment resulting from the practice of the teachings that are in harmony with Dharma. You should know that these are the seven purifications of meditative absorption.”

9.­19

“Blessed One, what is the function of each of these five purifications?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that the five functions are as follows: (1) Having no attachment, the bodhisattvas continuously practice the perfections in this life. Because they practice them with enthusiasm, they are conscientious. (2) Being disinterested, they obtain the cause for the careful practice of these perfections in their future lives. (3) Free of any wrongdoing, they practice the perfect, pure, and stainless perfections. (4) Unburdened by conceptions, they swiftly perfect the perfections through their skillful means. (5) Because they transfer their merit, they will attain in all their future lives the inexhaustible perfections together with the desirable results produced by the maturation of their karma, until they obtain the unsurpassable, complete and perfect awakening.”

9.­20

“Blessed One, what is the vastness of the bodhisattvas’ practice of these perfections?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, bodhisattvas are without attachment and disinterested, and they transfer their merit.”

“In what way are they without afflictions?”

“They are free of any wrongdoing and conceptions.”

“In what way are they stainless?”

“They act as they mentally inspect.”

“In what way are they immovable?”

“They are said to be immovable because this is the nature of those who have entered the stages of a bodhisattva.” [F.46.b]

“In what way are the perfections utterly pure?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, they are included within the tenth stage and the Buddha Stage.”

9.­21

“Blessed One, why is the desirable result of the maturation resulting from the practice of the perfections always inexhaustible295 in the case of the bodhisattvas? Why do they obtain this inexhaustibility through the perfections?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, it is because they practice each perfection296 in dependence upon the others.”

9.­22

“Blessed One, why is it that bodhisattvas do not have faith in the desirable result of the maturation resulting from the practice of the perfections in the way they have faith in the perfections?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, this is due to five reasons: (1) The perfections are the cause for the highest bliss and happiness, (2) they are the cause for the benefit of oneself and others, (3) they are the cause for the desirable result of their maturation in future lives, (4) they are the foundation of the freedom from afflictions, and (5) they have the nature of immutability.”

9.­23

“Blessed One, what are their specific powers?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, you should know that their specific powers have the following four qualities: (1) When the bodhisattvas practice the perfections, they eliminate adverse factors, such as greed, faulty discipline, mental agitation, laziness, distraction, and wrong views; (2) they will attain the unsurpassable, complete and perfect awakening; (3) in this life, they will benefit themselves as well as beings; and (4) in future lives they will attain the desirable result of their maturation, which is vast and inexhaustible.”

9.­24

“Blessed One, from what cause do these perfections arise? What are their result and benefit?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, the perfections have compassion as their cause. As result, they have the desirable result of their maturation and [F.47.a] the result accomplishing the benefit of beings. As benefit, they have the great benefit of accomplishing the great awakening.”

9.­25

“Blessed One, if the bodhisattvas have inexhaustible resources as well as compassion for beings, why are there poor people in the world?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, this is nothing but the fault resulting from beings’ own karma. If it were not so, if no obstruction were brought about by beings’ own faults, bodhisattvas could at all times engage in compassionate activities toward them. As bodhisattvas have inexhaustible resources, how could the vision of suffering manifest? Avaloki­teśvara, it is like this: hungry ghosts whose bodies are tormented by thirst perceive the waters of the ocean as a dry and barren place. This is not the fault of the ocean but the fault resulting from the maturation of nothing but these hungry ghosts’ own karma. Likewise, the absence of result is not the fault of the bodhisattvas’ generosity, which is like the ocean, but the fault of beings themselves, the fault resulting from the karma of those who are like hungry ghosts.”

9.­26

“Blessed One, through which perfection do bodhisattvas apprehend essencelessness?”297

“Avaloki­teśvara, they apprehend it through the perfection of wisdom.”

“Blessed One, when they apprehend essencelessness through the perfection of wisdom, why then do they not apprehend that essencelessness has an essence?”298

“Avaloki­teśvara, I did not declare that essencelessness is apprehended by means of an essence.299 However, if one does not use expressions to teach, it is impossible to explain that this essencelessness is inexpressible and cognized intuitively. On this basis, I said that they perceive essencelessness.”

9.­27

“Blessed One, what is called perfection, immediate perfection,300 and great perfection?” [F.47.b]

1. “Avaloki­teśvara, bodhisattvas possess virtuous qualities, generosity and so on, that they have practiced over immeasurable periods of time. But when defilements arise in them, they are unable to overcome them and, instead, are overcome by them. Thus, this inferior and intermediate aspiration on the stage where one proceeds by means of aspiration is called perfection.

2. “Then, bodhisattvas possess virtuous qualities that they have practiced during further immeasurable periods of time. When defilements arise in them, these bodhisattvas overcome them and cannot be overcome by them. Thus, taking hold of these qualities beginning with the first stage is called immediate perfection.

3. “Next, bodhisattvas possess virtuous qualities that they have practiced during even longer immeasurable periods of time. In the bearer of such qualities, no defilement arises at all. Thus, taking hold of these qualities beginning with the eighth stage is called great perfection.”301

9.­28

“Blessed One, how many kinds of latent dispositions toward defilements are there on the stages?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, there are three:302

1. “The latent dispositions that destroy the factors conducive to the manifestation of defilements are as follows: on the first five stages, the factors conducive to the manifestation of innate defilements are non-innate defilements. At that point, these factors do not manifest. As a consequence, these latent dispositions are called latent dispositions that destroy the factors conducive [to the manifestation of defilements].

2. “The latent dispositions of limited power are as follows: on the sixth and seventh stages, subtle aspects of the latent dispositions manifest and through practice are suppressed. Therefore, as a consequence of this subtle manifestation, these latent dispositions are called latent dispositions of limited power.

3. “The subtle latent dispositions are as follows: on the eighth stage and above, defilements do not manifest at all because there only remain cognitive obstructions to be cleared. Therefore, these latent dispositions are called subtle latent dispositions.”

9.­29

“Blessed One, how many kinds of elimination of corruption characterize these latent dispositions?”303

“Avaloki­teśvara, there are three kinds:304 (1) the elimination of superficial corruption characterizes the first and the second type of latent dispositions]305 (2) the elimination of deeper corruption characterizes [F.48.a] the third type of latent dispositions, and (3) since the elimination of the innermost corruption is the state in which there are no latent dispositions at all, I have taught that it is the Buddha Stage.”

9.­30

“Blessed One, after how many eons are these types of corruption eliminated?”

“Avaloki­teśvara, they are abandoned within three incalculable periods of time‍—within immeasurable eons, seasons, moons, half-moons, days and nights, days, half days, hours, minutes, seconds, or split seconds.”

9.­31

“Blessed One, how should the defining characteristic, the fault, and the positive quality of defilements arising in bodhisattvas be known?”

1. “Avaloki­teśvara, defilements arising in bodhisattvas have the defining characteristic of nondefilement. Why? Because they fully realize the domain of truth, which is only determined on the first stage. On account of this, the defilements of bodhisattvas arise only with full awareness, not unconsciously. Therefore, [defilements arising in bodhisattvas have] the defining characteristic of nondefilements.

2. “Because they do not have the capacity to produce suffering in [bodhisattvas’] own [mental] continuums, they are faultless.

3. “Because they are the cause dispelling the suffering from the world of beings, they have boundless positive qualities.”

“Blessed One, if even the defilements arising in this way in bodhisattvas outshine the roots of virtue produced by all beings, hearers, and solitary realizers to such an extent, what need is there to mention their other positive qualities?306 The supreme value of the bodhisattvas’ awakening is truly amazing!

9.­32

“Blessed One, what was your underlying intention when you declared that the vehicle of the hearers and the Great Vehicle constitute the Single Vehicle?” [F.48.b]

“In the vehicle of the hearers, I taught the essence of various phenomena, such as the five aggregates, the six internal sense domains, the six external sense domains, and so forth. In the Great Vehicle, I presented exactly these same phenomena by teaching them in terms of a single principle, the domain of truth. Therefore, I did not declare that [these two] vehicles are distinct from one another. Those who conceptualize these teachings exclusively according to their literal meaning also conceptualize these [two] vehicles as being distinct‍—some by superimposing, others by negating. As a consequence, they think that the two vehicles are contradictory307 and thus refute one another. This is what I had in mind when I taught the Single Vehicle.”

9.­33

Then, at that moment, the Blessed One spoke these verses:

“The very teachings on the nature of various phenomena
Taught in the lower and higher vehicles
Are teachings of a single principle.
This is why I did not declare the vehicles to be distinct from one another.
“Those who conceptualize according to the literal meaning of the teachings
Think that these vehicles are contradictory
As a result of their superimpositions and negations,
And so from delusion arise various opinions.
“The buddhas taught as the Great Vehicle
What is included within the stages of a bodhisattva and a buddha,
The names of these stages, and their adverse factors, specific arising, aspiration, and training.
Those who will exert themselves in this will become buddhas.”

Then, the bodhisattva Avaloki­teśvara asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, what is the name of the teaching imparted in this Dharma discourse that unravels the Tathāgata’s intent? How should I keep it in mind?”

The Blessed One answered, “Avaloki­teśvara, this is a teaching of definitive meaning on the stages and the perfections. Keep it in mind as The Teaching of Definitive Meaning on the Stages and the Perfections. As the Blessed One expounded this teaching, seventy-five thousand bodhisattvas obtained the bodhisattva’s concentration, the light of the Great Vehicle. [F.49.a]

This was the chapter of the bodhisattva Avaloki­teśvara‍—the ninth chapter.


10.

Chapter 10

10.­1

Then the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī addressed the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when you mention ‘the truth body of the tathāgatas,’ what is the defining characteristic of this truth body of the tathāgatas?”

The Blessed One answered, “Mañjuśrī, the truth body of the tathāgatas is characterized when one has fully achieved a shift in one’s basis of existence, the emergence [from cyclic existence] through the practice of the stages and the perfections.308 Because of the two [following] reasons, you should know that this truth body is characterized by inconceivability: (1) it is beyond mental elaborations and is not produced by intentional action,309 (2) while beings are fixated on mental elaborations and produced by intentional action.”


ab.

Abbreviations

Bd Bardan (Zanskar) canonical collection
C Choné xylograph Kangyur
Cbeta Chinese Electronic Buddhist Association, (www.cbeta.org)
Cz Chizhi Kangyur
D Degé xylograph Kangyur
Dd Dodedrak Kangyur
Dk Dongkarla Kangyur
Do Dolpo canonical collection
F Phukdrak manuscript Kangyur
Go Gondhla (Lahaul) canonical collection
Gt Gangteng Kangyur
H Lhasa xylograph Kangyur
He Hemis I Kangyur
J ’jang sa tham/Lithang xylograph Kangyur
Kʙ Berlin manuscript Kangyur
Kǫ774 Peking 1737 xylograph Kangyur
L London (Shelkar) manuscript Kangyur
Lg Lang mdo Kangyur
Mvyut Mahāvyutpatti
N Narthang xylograph Kangyur
Ng Namgyal Kangyur
Np Neyphug Kangyur
O Tawang Kangyur
Pj Phajoding I Kangyur
Pz Phajoding II Kangyur
R Ragya Kangyur
S Stok manuscript Kangyur
Saṃdh. Saṃdhi­nirmocana­sūtra
Saṃdhdh Dunhuang manuscript: Stein Tib. n°194 (49 folios) and Stein Tib. n°683 (1 folio) (Hakamaya 1984–1987)
T Tokyo manuscript Kangyur
Taishō 676 解深密經, translated by Xuanzang (596–664 ᴄᴇ)
TrBh Sthiramati’s Triṃśikāvijñaptibhāṣyam
U Urga xylograph Kangyur
V Ulaanbaatar manuscript Kangyur
VD Degé; xylograph of the Viniścaya­saṃ­grahaṇī of the Yogācāra­bhūmi from the Tengyur
VG Golden; xylograph of the Viniścaya­saṃ­grahaṇī of the Yogācāra­bhūmi from the Tengyur
VP Peking; xylograph of the Viniścaya­saṃ­grahaṇī of the Yogācāra­bhūmi from the Tengyur
VinSg Viniścaya­saṃ­grahaṇī of the Yogācāra­bhūmi
X Basgo manuscript Kangyur
YBht P ’i Tibetan translation of Acarya Asanga’s Yogācāra­bhūmi from the Peking Tengyur (n°. 5540, sems-tsam, ’i 143aI-382a5 (vol. I l l : 121-217)
Z Shey Palace manuscript Kangyur

n.

Notes

n.­1
See glossary entry “ultimate.”
n.­2
See Brunnhölzl 2018, p. 1590, n. 89 on this point.
n.­3
The numbering of paragraphs of the Saṃdhi­nirmocana­sūtra follows Lamotte’s critical edition.
n.­4
See Radich 2007, p. 1257 on the relationship between āśraya­parivṛtti and dauṣṭhulyakāya. Saṃdh. is the only text in the entire Kangyur in which the term dauṣṭhulyakāya is found.
n.­5
In bold are textual resources I used to translate the text into English.
n.­6
See Powers 2015. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to consult this reference work at the time of completing this translation.
n.­7
Here is a list of the sigla I used to identify the various witnesses of Saṃdh.:
(1) Witnesses of the sūtra found in the available Kangyurs and canonical collections (MsK = manuscript Kangyur, PK = xylograph): Kʙ: Berlin MsK, C: Choné PK, Cz: Chizhi, D: Degé PK, Dd: Dodedrak, Dk: Dongkarla, F: Phukdrag MsK, H: Lhasa PK, Gt: Gangteng, He: Hemis I, J: ’jang sa tham/Lithang PK, L: London (Shelkar) MsK, Lg: Lang mdo, N: Narthang PK, Ng: Namgyal, Np: Neyphug, O: Tawang, Pj: Phajoding I, Pz: Phajoding II, Kǫ: Peking 1737 PK, R: Ragya, S: Stok MsK, T: Tokyo MsK, U: Urga PK, V: Ulaanbaatar MsK, W: Wangli supplement, X: Basgo MsK, Z: Shey Palace MsK. Other canonical collections: Ba: Basgo fragments (Ladakh), Bd: Bardan (Zanskar), Go: Gondhla (Lahaul), Do: Dolpo. Source: http://www.rkts.org (last accessed on July 20, 2020). I am following the typology of Kangyur groups suggested by rKTs (Vienna University). I would like to warmly thank Professor Helmut Tauscher and Bruno Lainé for making available to me the editions I used for this translation project. For a general discussion of some Tibetan sources, see Skilling 1994, p. 775.
(2) Xylographs of the Viniścaya­saṃ­grahaṇī of the Yogācāra­bhūmi from the Tengyur: VD Degé, VG Golden, VP Peking. My thanks go to Kojirō Katō for having shared with me the bibliographical detail of these witnesses. The Viniścaya­saṃ­grahaṇī is also available in Chinese under the following title: 瑜伽師地論卷第七十六攝決擇分.
n.­8
For the reference of possible additional folios, see Chayet 2005, p. 67 (n°615‍—1 folio, n°590‍—6 folios).
n.­34
rin po che sna bdun does not refer to jewels only, as found in Lamotte (1935) and Keenan (2000). I follow here Powers (1995), Cornu (2005), and Cleary (1999).
n.­35
The logical subject of ’jig rten gyi khams dpag tu med pa rgyas par ’gengs pa’i ’od zer chen po shin tu mnga’ ba is the palace (khang). Cornu (2005) and Keenan (2000) seem to read this phrase as a qualifier for the seven precious substances.
n.­36
The first paragraph of the nidāna is a presentation of the place where the Buddha is dwelling. As already mentioned in the introduction, a succession of compounds, mainly bahuvrīhis, enables the topicalization of the temple (khang). Lamotte’s translation reflects this literary device, contrary to Powers who does not topicalize the palace to the same degree on account of some ambiguities regarding the logical subject of a few clauses describing this palace. To illustrate this point, it seems unclear whether the adjectives “steadfast,” “enduring,” or “free” in Powers’ translation qualify the temple or the beings attending it. Cornu mainly follows Powers here but the grammatical necessity to indicate the gender and number of qualifiers in French limits the risk of confusion, which is obviously not the case in English. Regarding the usage of tenses, Lamotte is the only translator who uses both narrative past and present in this first paragraph. He thus switches from the past tense to the present tense in order to describe the characteristics of the temple, a decision I chose not to follow in the present translation.
n.­37
Lamotte, Cornu, and Powers do not translate the anaphoric pronoun de in ’jig rten las ’das pa de’i bla ma’i dge ba’i rtsa ba las byung ba. Powers explains in a footnote (see Power 1995, p. 313, n. 3) that this pronoun refers to gnosis according to Wonch’uk, although his translation does not reflect this interpretation. Since wisdom has not been mentioned earlier in the text and since the pronoun de is anaphoric, I read de as referring to the Buddha. Moreover, the concept of “root of virtue” is usually associated with persons and we have a reference to dbang sgyur ba in the next qualifying phrase.
n.­38
The clause dbang sgyur ba’i rnam par rig pa shin tu rnam par rig pa’i mtshan nyid is problematic. Lamotte translates it in the following way: “très pur, il se caractérise par une pensée maîtresse de soi.” Cornu and Powers follow the reading found in D, folio  2.a; S, folio 4.a; Kǫ, folio 1.a; L, folio 3.a; and H, folio 3.a ( dbang sgyur ba’i rnam par rig pa shin tu rnam par rig pa’i mtshan nyid) and render the two occurrences of rnam par rig pa by an apposition: “It was characterized by perfect knowledge, the knowledge of one who has mastery.” (Powers 1995, p. 5). However, in F, folio 4.b we find a variant reading which, I believe, makes more sense: dbang byed pa’i rnam par rig pa shin tu rnam par dag pa’i mtshan nyid. The Tibetan verbal prefix shin tu rnam par is used to render the upasarga su- in Sanskrit, like in suviśuddha. In Mvyut 351, blo shin tu rnam par dag pa thus translates the Sanskrit suviśuddhabuddhiḥ.
n.­39
nges par ’byung ba. In Skt. niḥsaraṇa or niryāṇa, which have the meaning of setting forth, issue, exit, departure, escape, a road out of town. The analogy here is not about emancipation or renunciation as Powers and Cornu translated it but rather with the metaphor of the journey. In that sense, what is meant here is the departure to reach the palace. Lamotte (1935), Keenan (2000), and Cleary (1999) follow Xuanzang’s translation: 大念慧行以為游路 (Cbeta, Taishō 676). Interestingly enough, F does not have nges par ’byung ba but just ’byung ba.
n.­40
rin po che’i pad ma’i rgyal po chen po yon tan gyi tshogs mtha’ yas pas brgyan pa’i bkod pa la rten pa na bzhugs te. This clause has been translated in various ways depending on how one understands the compound rin po che’i pad ma’i rgyal po chen po yon tan gyi tshogs mtha’ yas pas. Lamotte (1935), Powers (1995), and Cornu (2005) read it as a dvandva: “II est orné de qualités infinies, de joyaux, de lotus et de grands rois” (Lamotte 1935, p. 167); “this pattern was adorned with boundless masses of excellent qualities, and with great kingly jeweled lotuses” (Powers 1995, pp. 5–6); “paré d’infinies qualités et de grands lotus royaux incrustés de pierreries” (Cornu 2005, p. 26). However, it seems to me that it would be better to read this compound as a karmadhāraya. Folio 5.a offers a variant reading that could support this interpretation: yon ten gyi tshogs mtha’ yas pas/ brgyan pa’i rin po che chen po pad mo’i rgyal po’i bkod pa’i gnas na nyan thos kyi dge ’dun tshad med pa dang / thabs gcig tu bzhugs te. In addition to this problem, one should note that Lamotte’s translation of the compound rin po che’i pad ma’i rgyal po chen po as a dvandva is inaccurate here. Powers’ reading of this term is correct.
n.­53
brjod du med pa dang / gnyis su med pa’i mtshan nyid. I read this compound as a bahuvrīhi. The full clause [brjod du med pa dang / gnyis su med pa’i mtshan nyid] + [don dam pa] is a karmadhāraya meaning literally “the ultimate that is that whose defining characteristic is inexpressible and absolute.” Powers’ suggestion is also possible here (“the ultimate whose defining characteristic is inexpressible and non-dual”). Lamotte leaves out mtshan nyid. Cornu somewhat mixes qualifiers and qualified terms in his rendering of this clause.
n.­65
brtsams pa; ārabhya with the meaning of “referring to/having to do with,” a frequent occurrence in Saṃdh. See Edgerton 1953, p. 102.
n.­66
rtog ge thams cad las yang dag par ’das pa; sarva­tarka­samati­krānta. Regarding the translation of the term rtog ge (tarka), Powers 1995, p. 25 suggests “argumentation,” but the emphasis in the present context is not on logical reasoning. The term tarka denotes here any kind of assumption, presupposition, representation, or conjecture regarding the absolute that is the product of the intellect (manas).
n.­74
I am using the adjective “indistinct” here in the sense of the first definition given in the Oxford English Dictionary: “1. Not distinct or distinguished from each other, or from something else; not kept separate or apart in the mind or perception; not clearly defined or marked off.” Oxford English Dictionary Online, s.v. “indistinct,” accessed July 20, 2020, https://www-oed-com.ezproxy.leidenuniv.nl:2443/view/Entry/94602?redirectedFrom=indistinct#eid.
n.­75
mos pa; praṇidhāna. See mos pa spyod pa’i sa. See Mvyut 897: mos pa spyod pa’i sa; adhimukticaryābhūmiḥ.
n.­76
Schmithausen reads don dam pa’i mtshan nyid (paramārthalakṣaṇa) as “the defining characteristic that is the ultimate” in 3.­5 (see Schmithausen 2014, p. 558, §512.3). However, Saṃdh. chapter 3 is about conditioned phenomena in relation to the ultimate when their respective defining characteristics are examined. The question here is not to determine whether the ultimate is the defining characteristic of conditioned phenomena. Rather, it is to determine whether the conditioned and the ultimate are different by examining their defining characteristics. Therefore, I read don dam pa’i mtshan nyid as “the defining characteristic of the ultimate,” namely, as a genitive tatpuruṣa and not as a karmadhāraya.
n.­77
To render sha stag.
n.­90
Lit. “in the world of beings.”
n.­91
F reads here shes pa in agreement with D. See F, folio 14.bff.
n.­92
dmigs pa; ālambana. I think it is important here to read dmigs pa as meaning “object” because in folio 11.a the Buddha contrasts these various objects (aggregates, sense sources, constituents, truths, etc.) with the “object conducive to purification” (rnam par dag pa’i dmigs pa, *viśuddhyālambana; see Schmithausen 2014, p. 362, §306.5 and n. 1644). Translating dmigs pa here as “observing” would weaken the central opposition between (a) the objects taken as a reference point for their practice by those who have not realized the defining characteristic of the ultimate and (b) the object conducive to purification, which is present within all phenomena. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce this fundamental point.
n.­101
ji tsam gyis; kiyant. The complete sentence reads, “In what sense are they skilled in the secrets of mind, thought, and cognition?”
n.­137
This enumeration follows the structure found in 4.­2.
n.­265
Sanskrit reads adhimukti; see Matsuda 1995, p. 67.
n.­266
Sanskrit reads suparibhāvitādhimuktikṣanti; see Matsuda 1995, p. 67.
n.­267
See 7.­31: “they develop devotion for [this teaching] and commission its transcription into writing. Once it has been put into writing, they keep it in mind, read it, venerate it, propagate it, expound it, chant it aloud, contemplate it, and apply it in their practice.”
n.­268
D reads shin tu bsgoms pa’i phyir bzod pas sa de las yang dag par ’das nas byang chub sems dpa’i yang dag pa nyid skyon med pa la ’jug go. The term bzod pas appears to be out of place here and should have been found in the preceding clause, as is the case in the Sanskrit text, which in addition contains no parallel to phyir.
n.­269
byang chub kyi phyogs dang mthun pa’i chos; bodhyaṅga. D, folio 39.b reads byang chub kyi phyogs dang ’thun ba’i chos ji ltar thob pa dag gis, but F, folio 52.a has byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos ji ltar thob pa de dag la.
n.­270
D: ’bad pas yan lag des yongs su rdzogs pa yin yang byang chub kyi phyogs dang ’thun ba’i chos ji ltar thob pa dag gis de la mang du gnas par bya ba dang / snyoms par ’jug pa la sred pa dang / chos la sred pa las sems lhag par btang snyoms su ’jug mi nus pas. The expression de la mang du gnas par bya ba corresponds to tadbahulavihārin. Sanskrit: na tu śaknoti yathāpratilabdhair bodhipakṣair dharmais tadbahulavihārī samāpattidharmatṝṣṇāyāś ca cittam adhyupekṣituṃ (see Matsuda 1995, p. 68). The subject is singular masculine. I used a plural for bodhisattva in this chapter to avoid the gender issue since bodhisattvas include both males and females.
n.­271
See 8.35.11. Sanskrit has a locative singular: jñeye; see Matsuda 1995, p. 68.
n.­272
Sanskrit reads sarvasūkṣāpattidauṣṭhulyamalavigatām (see Matsuda 1995, p. 69).
n.­273
Sanskrit has apramāṇajñānāvabhāsena. It seems that jñāna has been translated by shes pa in D while the more frequent corresponding Tibetan term ye shes is usually found in F. Sanskrit: apramāṇajñānāvabhāsena sanniśrayatām upādāya tasya samādhes tasyāś ca śrutadhāraṇyās tṛtīyā bhūmiḥ prabhākarīty ucyate (see Matsuda 1995, p. 69).
n.­274
The Sanskrit fragment (see Matsuda 1995, p. 69) does not contain the Sanskrit equivalent for me’i ’od, which is most probably agnyarci, as suggested by Matsuda. In this case, understanding ’od/arci as “flame” makes more sense. I translated arcibhūtatva as “set ablaze.”
n.­275
See 9.3.5.
n.­276
chos kyi tshogs; dharmasaṃbhāra. The Sanskrit (see Matsuda 1995, p. 69) differs from the Tibetan (Go, folio 35.a reads chos kyi tshogs, just like the more recent witnesses): nabhopamsya dauṣṭhulyakāyasya mahāmeghopamena dharmakāyena spharanāc chādanatām upadāya daśamī bhūmir dharmameghaty ucyate. The process described here corresponds to the āśrayaparāvṛtti (i.e., the shift in one’s basis of existence), which is completed on the eleventh stage.
n.­277
I follow Wonch’uk’s ṭīkā (vol. thi, folio 269.a) regarding the meaning of the analogy with the sky/space ( nam mkha’ lta bu): gnas ngan len gyi lus nam mkha’ lta bu la chos kyi sku yongs su rdzogs pa sprin chen po lta bus khyab cing khebs pas de’i phyir bcu pa ni chos kyi sprin gyis zhes bya’o zhes bya ba ni bcu pa chos kyi sprin rnam par bshad pa’o/ /’di ltar bdag dang chos su ’dzin pas yongs su bsgos pa’i sa bon gang yin pa de ni las su mi rung ba’i phyir gnas ngan len zhes bya’o/ /stong pa nyid rnam pa gnyis dang / bdag med pa’i don la sgrib pa’i phyir mdo las nam mkha’ lta bu’o zhes gsungs so/ /sa bcu po de la chos kyi dbyings rnam pa bcu’i chos kyi sku yongs su rdzogs pa ni sprin chen po dang mtshungs te/ chos kyi dbyings mngon du gyur pa ni chos kyi sku yongs su rdzogs pa dang / bsgoms pa las byung ba’i chos kyi sku gnas ngan len nam mkha’ lta bu la khebs pa’i phyir chos kyi sprin zhes bya’o.
n.­278
shes bya’i rnam pa thams cad [mkhyen pa]; jñeyasarvākāra[jñatā-] (see Matsuda 1995, p. 69).
n.­279
On the opposition between affliction and purification in this sentence, see Lamotte 1935, pp. 240–41, n. 13.
n.­280
On the relation between pratibhāna and dhāraṇī, see Braarvig 1985.
n.­281
gang la; yatredānīm (see Matsuda 1995, p. 70).
n.­282
The variant reading found in F differs significantly from the Sanskrit edited by Matsuda in comparison to the Tibetan translation in D. I translated this passage from the Sanskrit (see Matsuda 1995, p. 70): (āścaryā bhaga)van yāvad mahānuśaṃsā mahāphalā anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhī yatredānīm evaṃ ma(hā)saṃmohajālaṃ saṃpracālya mahac ca dauṣṭhulyagahanaṃ samatikramya bodhisatvā anuttarāṃ samyaksaṃbodhim abhisaṃbudhyaṃte. D: bcom ldan ’das gang la de ltar/ byang chub sems dpa’ rnams de ltar kun tu rmongs pa’i dra ba chen po rab tu dral zhing de’i gnas dan len thibs po chen po las yang dag par ’das te/ bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub mngon par rdzogs par ’tshang rgya ba’i bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub ji tsam du phan yon che zhing ’bras bu che ba ni ngo mtshar lags so. F, folio 54.b: bcom ldan ’das ji tsam du bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub de ’bras bu che zhing legs pa che ba dang / de ltar gti mug chen po’i dra ba gsal nas ngan len che zhing sdug pa las yang dag par ’das te/ byang chub sems dpa’ rnams bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub mngon par rdzogs par ’tshang rgya ba ni ngo mtshar che’o.
n.­283
D: chos rnam par dag pa dang / ches shin tu rnam par dag pa yin par rig par bya’o; compare with Kǫ, folio 55.b: ches rnam par dag pa dang / ches shin tu rnam par dag pa yin par rig par bya’o.
n.­284
D: dgos pa med for nirupalepa (see Mvyut 6672)? F, folio 55.b: dgongs pa med pa. D and Xuanzang’s translation agree: 無緣無待發大願心 (Cbeta, Taishō 676).
n.­285
D: khams, but F, folio 56.b reads mkhas pa.
n.­286
D; Kǫ, folio 47.b: khams gya nom pa (syn. khams bzang po), praṇītadhātu(kam) (see Mvyut 7670), 妙界 (see Yokoyama, Kōitsu, and Takayuki Hirosawa, eds., Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra, accessed August 29, 2016, http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?q=%E5%A6%99%E7%95%8C). As a translation for this term, Lamotte (1935, p. 245) suggests “complexion” and Powers (1995, p. 243) gives “constituents.” However, F, folio 57.a has dam pa’i dbyings su instead of khams gya nom pa las. Obermiller (1933, p. 207, n. 3) gives us the context in which gya nom pa (praṇīta) is usually used: “Emancipation, in the sense that (the extinction of Phenomenal Existence) represents the state of bliss and purity (which is completely free from the defiling forces of the Phenomenal World).” Xuanzang’s translation reads: 亦能獲得上界勝解 (Cbeta, Taishō 676), in which 上界 refers to the formless and form realms.
n.­287
chos la nges par rtog pa’i bzod pa; dharmanidhyānakśānti. The term kśānti is used here in the sense of “acceptance.” In the Kīṭāgiri sutta (M. I, 480), the phrase dhammanijjhānakkhanti is glossed in the following way: “Monks, I do not say that the attainment of gnosis is all at once. Rather, the attainment of gnosis is after gradual training, gradual action, gradual practice. And how is there the attainment of gnosis after gradual training, gradual action, gradual practice? There is the case where, when confidence has arisen, one visits the teacher. Having visited, one grows close. Having grown close, one lends ear. Having lent ear, one hears the Dhamma. Having heard the Dhamma, one remembers it. Remembering, one penetrates the meaning of the teachings. Penetrating the meaning, one comes to an agreement through pondering the teachings.” Kathañca bhikkhave anupubbasikkhā anupubbakiriyā anupubbapaṭipadā aññārādhanā hoti: idha bhikkhave saddhājāto upasaṅkamati, upasaṅkamanto payirupāsati, payirupāsanto sotaṃ odahati, ohitasoto dhammaṃ suṇāti, sutvā dhammaṃ dhāreti, dhatānaṃ dhammānaṃ atthaṃ upaparikkhati, atthaṃ upaparikkhato dhammā nijjhānaṃ khamanti, dhammanijjhānakkhantiyā sati chando jāyati, chandajāto ussahati, ussahitvā tuleti, tulayitvā padahati, pahitatto samāno kāyena ceva paramaṃ saccaṃ sacchikaroti, paññāya ca naṃ paṭivijjha passati.” (Translation and citation are from Punnaji 2017).
n.­288
byas shing bsags pa; 造作増長; kṛta-upacita.
n.­289
rnam grangs is used here as a synonym for thabs.
n.­290
Lit., “Likewise, beings who are suffering from being subject to the suffering resulting from being conditioned cannot be made happy by any method consisting in merely assisting them with material objects.”
n.­291
According to Lamotte and Keenan, this refers to 9.­13: “The perfections are without attachment, disinterested, free from faults, nonconceptual, and dedication of merit.”
n.­292
Translating rnam par dag pa with “purity” does not work here as can be seen in the case of the following purifications (2–7), which are formulated according to the exact same lexicographical and syntactical structure as (1).
n.­293
shag kyis ’chags; codanā; 諫誨 (see Yokoyama, Kōitsu, and Takayuki Hirosawa, eds., Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra, accessed August 30, 2016, http://www.buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?q=%E8%AB%AB%E8%AA%A8). For codanā, see Edgerton 1953, p. 234.
n.­294
rigs pa’i gnas lnga po; pañcavidyā. The five sciences are grammar, logic, philosophy, medicine, and crafts.
n.­295
ma ’tshal ba (D), mi zad pa (F); akṣaya.
n.­296
D: sar grub pa.
n.­297
In D consistently expressed through the term ngo bo nyid, while in F rang bzhin is used instead.
n.­298
D: ngo bo nyid dang bcas pa nyid kyang ci’i slad du mi ’dzin lags. F, folio 62.a: rang bzhin ma mchis pa’i rnams kyang ci’i slad du mi ’dzin.
n.­299
D: spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug nga ni ngo bo nyid kyis ngo bo nyid med pa nyid ’dzin par mi smra mod kyi. Compare with F, folio 62.a: spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug nga ni rang bzhin med pa nyid la/ rang bzhin med par mi bzhad de; VD, folio 89.a: spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug nga ni ngo bo nyid med pa nyid kyis ngo bo nyid ’dzin par mi smra mod kyi; and Xuanzang’s translation: 我終不說以無自性性取無自性性 (Cbeta, Taishō 676). The meanings of these translations can be interpreted as being similar, although their phrasing is quite different.
n.­300
nye ba’i pha rol tu phyin pa. The prefix nye ba (for the upasarga upa-) refers here to proximity, intimacy, and immediacy (as defilements manifest in the present case). Reading this term as “subsidiary” or “secondary” does not make sense since the three kinds of transcendence are presented in increasing order from the lesser to the greater.
n.­301
See 9.4.8: “The eighth stage is called Immovable because what lacks phenomenal appearance is spontaneously accomplished and [the bodhisattvas] are unshaken by the manifestation of defilements resulting from phenomenal appearance.” See also 9.5.8.
n.­302
F has only two aspects; see F, folio 63.a. Xuanzang’s translation has three: 善男子略有三種 (Cbeta, Taishō 676).
n.­303
For Schmithausen’s translation of 9.29, see Schmithausen 2014, p. 563.
n.­304
Regarding the fact some editions have gnyis (“two”) and others gsum (“three”); see Schmithausen 2014, p. 563, nn. 2311–12.
n.­305
See 9.28.1–2.
n.­306
Could this clause, de las gzhan pa’i yon tan rnams, refer to those who are not bodhisattvas?
n.­307
See the verses below in D: de dag ’gal ba snyam du sems pa na/ /rnam par rmongs nas blo gros sna tshogs ’gyur.
n.­308
See translation of VinSg 16 in Sakuma 1990, p. 202: “Der Dharmakāya der Tathāgatas ist dadurch charakterisiert, daß die [ihn konstituierende] ‘Umgestaltung der Grundlage’ daraus hervorgegangen ist, daß man die [Bodhisattva-]Stufen und Vollkommenheiten durch intensive Übung gemeistert hat.”
n.­309
mngon par ’du bya ba med pa; anabhisaṃskāraṇa.

b.

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

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’phags pa dgongs pa nges par ’grel pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 49, pp. 3–131.

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Other Canonical Sources for Samdh.

Bd3.7 vol. 3 (ta) pha, folios 1.b–84.a

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F156 vol. 68 (mdo sde, tsha), folios 1.b–72.a

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Gt028-001 (mdo na), folios 1.b–72.b

H109 vol. 51 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–87.b

He64.6 (mdo, wa), folios 62.b–125.b

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Kǫ774 vol. 29 (mdo sna tshogs, ngu), folios 1.b–60.b

L82 vol. 42 (mdo sde, na), folios 1.b–80.b

N94 vol. 51 (mdo sde, ca) folios 1.a–81.a.

Np012-001 (mdo na), folios 1.b–87.a

Pj043-001 (mdo ca), folios 1.b–62.b

Pz045-001 (mdo ca), folios 1.b–61.a

R106 vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–55.b

S106 vol. 63 (mdo sde, na), folios 1.b–80.b

U106 vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca), folios 1.b–55.b

X (mdo sde, wa), folios 66.a–132.a

Z137 vol. 59 (mdo, na), folios 1.b–93.a

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g.

Glossary

Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language

AS

Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO

Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD

Attested in dictionary

This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.

AA

Approximate attestation

The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

RP

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.

RS

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.

SU

Source unspecified

This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.­1

abiding in phenomena

Wylie:
  • chos gnas pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་གནས་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmasthititā

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 4.­10
g.­2

absorption

Wylie:
  • snyoms par ’jug pa
Tibetan:
  • སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • samāpatti

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit literally means “attainment,” and is used to refer specifically to meditative attainment and to particular meditative states. The Tibetan translators interpreted it as sama-āpatti, which suggests the idea of “equal” or “level”; however, they also parsed it as sam-āpatti, in which case it would have the sense of “concentration” or “absorption,” much like samādhi, but with the added sense of “attainment.”

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­34-35
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­5
  • g.­359
g.­3

absorption in the state of cessation

Wylie:
  • ’gog pa la snyoms par zhugs pa
Tibetan:
  • འགོག་པ་ལ་སྙོམས་པར་ཞུགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirodhasamāpatti

See Mvyut 1500 and 1988.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 10.­9
g.­6

accomplishment of the goal

Wylie:
  • dgos pa yongs su grub pa
Tibetan:
  • དགོས་པ་ཡོངས་སུ་གྲུབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • kṛtyānuṣṭhāna

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­35-36
  • n.­230-231
  • n.­239
g.­7

accumulated

Wylie:
  • kun tu bsags pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་བསགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ācita

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • p.­3
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­6
  • 7.­32
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­13
  • n.­118
g.­8

accused

Wylie:
  • shag kyis ’chags
Tibetan:
  • ཤག་ཀྱིས་འཆགས།
Sanskrit:
  • codanā

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­18
g.­9

activity of conditioning mental factors

Wylie:
  • ’du byed kyi ’jug pa
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་འཇུག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃskārapravṛtti

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­4-5
g.­10

actual

Wylie:
  • yongs su grub pa
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་གྲུབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • pariniṣpanna

See n.­125.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • i.­12
  • 6.­6
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­7
  • n.­54
  • n.­64
  • n.­95
  • n.­125
  • n.­181
  • n.­191
g.­13

actualization

Wylie:
  • mngon du bya ba
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་དུ་བྱ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • sākṣātkāra

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­1
  • 4.­3-4
  • 7.­1
  • 10.­5
  • g.­181
g.­15

affliction

Wylie:
  • kun nas nyon mongs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ནས་ཉོན་མོངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃkleśa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A term meaning defilement, impurity, and pollution, broadly referring to cognitive and emotional factors that disturb and obscure the mind. As the self-perpetuating process of affliction in the minds of beings, it is a synonym for saṃsāra. It is often paired with its opposite, vyavadāna, meaning “purification.”

Located in 30 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • i.­10
  • i.­12
  • i.­17
  • i.­23
  • p.­1
  • 3.­4-6
  • 6.­11-12
  • 7.­9-10
  • 7.­12-13
  • 8.­19-20
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­30-31
  • 8.­35-36
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­7
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­22
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­7-8
  • n.­279
g.­16

aggregate

Wylie:
  • phung pho
Tibetan:
  • ཕུང་ཕོ།
Sanskrit:
  • skandha

The five skandhas (pañcaskandha) are: forms (rūpa), sensation (vedanā), conception (saṃjñā), formations (saṃskāra), consciousness (vijñāna).

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • i.­19
  • 2.­3
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­8-10
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­13
  • 7.­25
  • 8.­20-21
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­32
  • n.­92
g.­18

analytical knowledge

Wylie:
  • so sor yang dag par rig pa
Tibetan:
  • སོ་སོར་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • pratisaṃvid

See Har Dayal 2004, p. 260ff.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­19
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­27
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­3
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­12
g.­24

appearancelessness

Wylie:
  • mtshan ma med pa
Tibetan:
  • མཚན་མ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • animitta

One of the three gates of liberation along with emptiness and wishlessness.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • p.­1
  • 9.­18
  • g.­188
  • g.­408
g.­25

applications of mindfulness

Wylie:
  • dran pa nye bar gzhag pa
Tibetan:
  • དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • smṛtyupasthāna

The four foundations of mindfulness refers to the application of mindfulness to: the body, sensations, the mind, phenomena.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­5
  • 4.­8-10
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­26
  • 8.­21
  • 10.­7
g.­28

aspiration

Wylie:
  • smon lam
Tibetan:
  • སྨོན་ལམ།
Sanskrit:
  • praṇidhāna

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­1
  • 9.­8
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­13
  • 9.­33
g.­29

aspiration

Wylie:
  • mos pa
Tibetan:
  • མོས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • praṇidhāna

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­10
  • 9.­27
g.­30

assumption

Wylie:
  • mngon par zhen pa
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་པར་ཞེན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • abhiniviśanti

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­13
  • n.­66
g.­32

attending

Wylie:
  • rjes su dpyod pa
Tibetan:
  • རྗེས་སུ་དཔྱོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • anucaranti

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­17
  • 8.­17
  • 9.­5
g.­34

Avaloki­teśvara

Wylie:
  • spyan ras gzigs
  • ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug
Tibetan:
  • སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས།
  • འཕགས་པ་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག
Sanskrit:
  • avaloki­teśvara
  • āryāva­loki­teśvara

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.

In this text:

Also mentioned in this text as Āryāva­loki­teśvara, the noble Avaloki­teśvara.

Located in 34 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • p.­4
  • 9.­1-3
  • 9.­5-31
  • 9.­33
g.­35

awakening

Wylie:
  • byang chub
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhi

Located in 43 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­5-6
  • i.­21
  • i.­56
  • 1.­2-3
  • 2.­2
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­6
  • 4.­7
  • 6.­6
  • 7.­15-16
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­33
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­13
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­20-21
  • 8.­36
  • 8.­40-41
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­18-19
  • 9.­23-24
  • 9.­31
  • 10.­4-5
  • 10.­9-10
  • n.­80
  • n.­82
  • n.­95
  • n.­126
  • n.­191
  • n.­231
  • g.­178
g.­36

awakening factors

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi phyogs dang ’thun pa’i chos
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་དང་འཐུན་པའི་ཆོས།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhi­pakṣya­dharma

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­21
  • 9.­3-4
  • 10.­7
g.­37

awakening mind

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi sems
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhicitta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In the general Mahāyāna teachings the mind of awakening (bodhicitta) is the intention to attain the complete awakening of a perfect buddha for the sake of all beings. On the level of absolute truth, the mind of awakening is the realization of the awakened state itself.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­49
  • 9.­9
  • n.­175
g.­38

awareness

Wylie:
  • shes bzhin
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་བཞིན།
Sanskrit:
  • samprajāna

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­31
g.­39

bahuvrīhi

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • bahuvrīhi

Type of Sanskrit compound.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • i.­42
  • i.­45
  • i.­50
  • n.­36
  • n.­53
  • n.­73
  • n.­86
  • n.­94
  • n.­135
  • n.­165
  • n.­311
  • n.­327
  • n.­361
  • n.­370
g.­40

bases of supernatural powers

Wylie:
  • rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa
Tibetan:
  • རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ṛddhipādaḥ

The four bases of supernatural powers (ṛddhipāda, rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa bzhi) are: (1) concentration through will (chanda, ’dun pa), (2) concentration through vigor (vīrya, brtson ’grus), (3) concentration through the mind (citta, bsam pa), and (4) concentration through investigation (mīmāṃsā, dpyod pa ). See Rahula 2001, p. 163.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­5
  • 4.­8-10
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­26
g.­45

blessed one

Wylie:
  • bcom ldan ’das
Tibetan:
  • བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
Sanskrit:
  • bhagavān
  • bhagavat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

Located in 114 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1-4
  • 2.­1-2
  • 2.­4
  • 3.­1-2
  • 3.­7
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­6-7
  • 4.­12
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­7
  • 6.­1-2
  • 6.­12
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­18-19
  • 7.­24-33
  • 8.­1-3
  • 8.­5-10
  • 8.­12-19
  • 8.­24-36
  • 8.­38-41
  • 9.­1-2
  • 9.­4-33
  • 10.­1-12
  • n.­167
  • n.­173
  • n.­200
g.­46

body afflicted by corruption

Wylie:
  • gnas ngan len gyi lus
Tibetan:
  • གནས་ངན་ལེན་གྱི་ལུས།
Sanskrit:
  • dauṣṭhulyakāya

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­22
  • i.­24-25
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­4
  • 10.­8
  • n.­4
  • n.­191
g.­47

branches of awakening

Wylie:
  • byang chub kyi yan lag
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག
Sanskrit:
  • bodhyaṅgāni

The seven branches of awakening are: (1) correct mindfulness, (2) correct discrimination of dharmas, (3) correct vigor, (4) correct joy, (5) correct flexibility, (6) correct concentration, and (7) correct equanimity.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­5
  • 4.­8-10
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­26
  • n.­93
g.­51

Buddha Stage

Wylie:
  • sangs rgyas kyi sa
Tibetan:
  • སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ས།
Sanskrit:
  • buddhabhūmi

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­3-6
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­29
g.­55

changing opinions

Wylie:
  • blo gros tha dad pa
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས་ཐ་དད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • matibheda

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­1
g.­56

characterized by

Wylie:
  • rab tu phye ba
Tibetan:
  • རབ་ཏུ་ཕྱེ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • prabhāvita

See Schmithausen 2014, p. 557, §512.1. Also translated here as “consisting in” and “constituted.”

Located in 30 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • i.­10
  • i.­22
  • i.­42
  • i.­45
  • p.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­5-6
  • 4.­6-11
  • 6.­11-12
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­9
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­9-10
  • n.­165
  • n.­180-181
  • n.­370
  • g.­83
  • g.­87
g.­59

Cloud of Dharma

Wylie:
  • chos kyi sprin
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྤྲིན།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmameghā

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­60

cognition

Wylie:
  • rnam par shes pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vijñāna

Located in 26 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­9-10
  • i.­12
  • i.­16
  • i.­18
  • i.­22
  • i.­44
  • i.­55
  • i.­58
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­3-6
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­37
  • 10.­9
  • n.­101
  • n.­108
  • n.­181
  • g.­16
  • g.­161
  • g.­258
g.­62

collection of teachings on the bodhisattva [path]

Wylie:
  • byang chub sems dpa’i sde snod
Tibetan:
  • བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྡེ་སྣོད།
Sanskrit:
  • bodhisattvapiṭaka

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­9
g.­66

comprehension

Wylie:
  • yongs su shes pa
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་ཤེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • parijñā

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • i.­44
  • 4.­3
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­25-26
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­23-24
  • 10.­5
  • n.­187
  • g.­181
g.­68

concentration

Wylie:
  • ting nge ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • samādhi

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.

In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.

Located in 23 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16-17
  • 8.­4-5
  • 8.­7
  • 8.­9-10
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­3-4
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­33
  • n.­181
  • n.­200
  • g.­167
  • g.­168
  • g.­258
  • g.­359
g.­69

conception

Wylie:
  • ’du shes
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃjñā

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • i.­10
  • i.­44
  • 1.­4-5
  • 7.­10
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­18-20
  • 10.­5
  • n.­191
  • g.­16
g.­71

conceptualization

Wylie:
  • rnam rtog
  • rnam par rtog pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་རྟོག
  • རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vikalpa

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • i.­16
  • p.­4
  • 1.­5
  • 5.­2
  • 7.­25-27
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36-37
  • n.­84
g.­72

conceptualize

Wylie:
  • gdags pa
Tibetan:
  • གདགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñapti

Also translated here as “decide.”

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­19
  • 5.­4
  • 9.­32-33
  • g.­94
g.­74

conditioned

Wylie:
  • ’du byas
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་བྱས།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃskṛta

Located in 25 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6-10
  • i.­12
  • i.­17
  • 1.­1-5
  • 3.­5
  • 4.­10
  • 8.­36
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­17
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­7
  • n.­64
  • n.­76
  • n.­88
  • n.­125
  • n.­290
  • g.­161
g.­75

conditioned phenomena

Wylie:
  • ’du byed
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃskāra

Also translated here as “conditioning mental factors.”

Located in 33 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­8
  • i.­10-11
  • i.­13
  • i.­15
  • i.­17
  • i.­20
  • 3.­1-7
  • 6.­12
  • 7.­11-13
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­29
  • 10.­7
  • n.­76
  • n.­80
  • n.­82
  • n.­100
  • n.­217
  • n.­337
  • n.­339
  • g.­76
  • g.­182
g.­76

conditioning mental factors

Wylie:
  • ’du byed
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃskāra

Also translated here as “conditioned phenomena.”

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­5
  • 8.­30
  • n.­134
  • g.­75
g.­78

conducive

Wylie:
  • grogs
Tibetan:
  • གྲོགས།
Sanskrit:
  • sahāya

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­19-20
  • 9.­28
  • 10.­7
g.­80

confusion

Wylie:
  • ’khrul pa
Tibetan:
  • འཁྲུལ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • bhrānta

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • i.­58
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­5
  • n.­317
g.­83

consisting in

Wylie:
  • rab tu phye ba
Tibetan:
  • རབ་ཏུ་ཕྱེ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • prabhāvita

Also translated here as “characterized by” and “constituted.” See Schmithausen 2014, p. 557, §512.1.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­42
  • 8.­30
  • 9.­4-5
  • n.­162
  • n.­290
  • g.­56
  • g.­87
g.­85

constant

Wylie:
  • rnam par gnas pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་གནས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vyavasthita

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­10
  • 8.­1
g.­86

constituent

Wylie:
  • khams
Tibetan:
  • ཁམས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhātu

The eighteen constituents are: eye, visual object, visual consciousness; ear, sound, auditive consciousness; nose, smell, olfactory consciousness; tongue, taste, gustative consciousness; body, touch, tactile consciousness; mind, mental objects, mental consciousness. When it refers to six elements, they are: earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­4
  • 4.­8-10
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­25
  • n.­92
  • n.­100
  • n.­286
g.­87

constituted

Wylie:
  • rab tu phye ba
Tibetan:
  • རབ་ཏུ་ཕྱེ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • prabhāvita

See Schmithausen 2014, p. 557, §512.1. Also translated here as “characterized by” and “consisting in.”

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16
  • 8.­7
  • n.­181
  • g.­56
  • g.­83
g.­91

correct concentration

Wylie:
  • yang dag pa’i ting nge ’dzin
Tibetan:
  • ཡང་དག་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
Sanskrit:
  • samyaksamādhi

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­27
  • g.­47
g.­93

corruption

Wylie:
  • gnas ngan len
Tibetan:
  • གནས་ངན་ལེན།
Sanskrit:
  • dauṣṭhulya

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­7
  • 7.­24
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36-38
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­29-30
  • n.­82
  • n.­191
g.­94

decide

Wylie:
  • gdags pa
Tibetan:
  • གདགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñapti

Also translated here as “conceptualize.”

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­6
  • n.­84
  • g.­72
g.­95

dedication of merit

Wylie:
  • yongs su bsngo ba
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་བསྔོ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • pariṇāmanā
  • pariṇata

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­13
  • n.­291
g.­96

deeper

Wylie:
  • phri
  • phyi
Tibetan:
  • ཕྲི།
  • ཕྱི།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Lit. “outer.”

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­29
g.­98

defilement

Wylie:
  • nyon mongs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཉོན་མོངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • kleśa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (avidyā). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.

Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.

Located in 24 passages in the translation:

  • i.­25
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­12-13
  • 7.­16
  • 7.­24
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­34-35
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­4-5
  • 9.­9-10
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­27-28
  • 9.­31
  • 10.­7-8
  • n.­191
  • n.­300-301
g.­99

defining characteristic

Wylie:
  • mtshan nyid
Tibetan:
  • མཚན་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • svabhāvalakṣaṇa

Located in 70 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­8
  • i.­10-11
  • i.­13-15
  • i.­17
  • i.­20-21
  • i.­55
  • 1.­1
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­3
  • 3.­1-7
  • 4.­3
  • 4.­6
  • 4.­8
  • 4.­10-12
  • 6.­1-3
  • 6.­6
  • 6.­9
  • 6.­11-12
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­4-5
  • 7.­7-8
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­12-13
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­22
  • 7.­24
  • 8.­20-21
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­31
  • 9.­31
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­9-10
  • n.­76
  • n.­80
  • n.­82
  • n.­88
  • n.­92
  • n.­94
  • n.­124-125
  • n.­133-134
  • n.­151
  • n.­162-163
  • n.­343
  • n.­370
g.­101

delusion

Wylie:
  • gti mug
Tibetan:
  • གཏི་མུག
Sanskrit:
  • moha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the three poisons (dug gsum) along with aversion, or hatred, and attachment, or desire, which perpetuate the sufferings of cyclic existence. It is the obfuscating mental state which obstructs an individual from generating knowledge or insight, and it is said to be the dominant characteristic of the animal world in general. Commonly rendered as confusion, delusion, and ignorance, or bewilderment.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­6
  • 8.­21
  • 9.­5
  • g.­273
g.­102

delusion

Wylie:
  • kun tu rmongs pa
  • rnam par rmongs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་རྨོངས་པ།
  • རྣམ་པར་རྨོངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃmoha

Also translated here as “obscuration.”

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­5
  • 9.­33
g.­107

dhāraṇī

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇī

Also rendered here as “keeping it in mind,” “formula.”

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • i.­22
  • n.­191
  • n.­280
  • n.­363
  • g.­175
  • g.­229
g.­108

Dharma discourse

Wylie:
  • chos kyi rnam grangs
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་གྲངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmaparyāya

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­33
  • 8.­41
  • 9.­33
  • 10.­12
  • n.­173
g.­110

Dharmodgata

Wylie:
  • chos ’phags
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་འཕགས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmodgata

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • i.­50
  • p.­4
  • 2.­1-4
g.­112

diligence

Wylie:
  • brtson ’grus
Tibetan:
  • བརྩོན་འགྲུས།
Sanskrit:
  • viryā

Also translated here as “vigor.”

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­6
  • 9.­9-12
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­18
  • g.­176
  • g.­398
g.­114

direct their attention

Wylie:
  • yid la byed
Tibetan:
  • ཡིད་ལ་བྱེད།
Sanskrit:
  • manasikāra

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16-17
  • i.­44
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­5
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­13-14
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­19
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36
  • 9.­10
g.­117

discipline

Wylie:
  • tshul khrims
Tibetan:
  • ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།
Sanskrit:
  • śīla

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Morally virtuous or disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. In a general sense, moral discipline is the cause for rebirth in higher, more favorable states, but it is also foundational to Buddhist practice as one of the three trainings (triśikṣā) and one of the six perfections of a bodhisattva. Often rendered as “ethics,” “discipline,” and “morality.”

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • p.­3
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­32
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­9-12
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­23
  • 10.­9
  • 10.­12
  • g.­176
g.­118

discourses teaching Dharma

Wylie:
  • chos gdags pa rnam par gzhag pa
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་གདགས་པ་རྣམ་པར་གཞག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmaprajñaptivyavasthā(pa)na

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­1
  • 8.­3
g.­120

discrimination of dharmas

Wylie:
  • chos rab tu rnam par ’byed pa
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་རབ་ཏུ་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmapravicaya

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • g.­47
g.­121

distinct

Wylie:
  • tha dad pa
Tibetan:
  • ཐ་དད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • bheda

Located in 24 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­8
  • i.­20
  • 3.­1-7
  • 4.­10-12
  • 8.­6-8
  • 8.­36
  • 9.­32-33
  • 10.­9
  • n.­82
  • n.­147
  • n.­181
  • n.­230
g.­127

domain of truth

Wylie:
  • chos kyi dbyings
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmadhātu

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­19
  • i.­22
  • 8.­21
  • 9.­31-32
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­10
g.­130

dvandva

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • dvandva

Type of Sanskrit compound.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­42
  • n.­40
  • n.­161
  • n.­230
g.­133

eloquence

Wylie:
  • spobs pa
Tibetan:
  • སྤོབས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • pratibhāna

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­14
  • 9.­5
g.­136

emancipation

Wylie:
  • nges par ’byung ba
Tibetan:
  • ངེས་པར་འབྱུང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • niḥsaraṇa
  • niryāṇa

Also translated here as “pathway.”

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • p.­3
  • n.­286
  • g.­178
  • g.­193
  • g.­285
g.­137

emptiness

Wylie:
  • stong pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • śūnyatā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­8
  • i.­17
  • p.­1
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­30
  • 8.­29-31
  • 9.­18
  • n.­172
  • n.­186
  • g.­24
  • g.­188
  • g.­194
  • g.­408
g.­141

equanimity

Wylie:
  • btang snyoms
Tibetan:
  • བཏང་སྙོམས།
Sanskrit:
  • upekṣā

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­11
  • 8.­18
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­18
  • g.­47
g.­143

essence

Wylie:
  • ngo bo nyid
Tibetan:
  • ངོ་བོ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • svabhāva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This term denotes the ontological status of phenomena, according to which they are said to possess existence in their own right‍—inherently, in and of themselves, objectively, and independent of any other phenomena such as our conception and labelling. The absence of such an ontological reality is defined as the true nature of reality, emptiness.

Located in 42 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10-13
  • i.­19
  • i.­22
  • i.­34
  • i.­58
  • 6.­4
  • 6.­9
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­8-9
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­22
  • 7.­24-28
  • 7.­30-31
  • 8.­26
  • 8.­29
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­26
  • 9.­32
  • 10.­7-8
  • n.­64
  • n.­124
  • n.­133
  • n.­147
  • n.­162-163
  • n.­168-169
  • g.­205
g.­144

essencelessness

Wylie:
  • ngo bo nyid med pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • niḥsva­bhāvatā

The three kinds of essencelessness are essencelessness regarding defining characteristics, essencelessness regarding arising, and essencelessness regarding the ultimate.

Located in 27 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • i.­34
  • i.­55
  • 3.­5
  • 7.­3-8
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­12-13
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­24-27
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­26
  • n.­54
  • n.­133-134
  • n.­147
  • n.­151
g.­145

essencelessness regarding arising

Wylie:
  • skye ba ngo bo nyid med pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • སྐྱེ་བ་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • utpattiniḥsva­bhāvatā

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­5
  • 7.­7
  • 7.­11-13
  • n.­134
  • g.­144
g.­146

essencelessness regarding defining characteristics

Wylie:
  • mtshan nyid ngo bo nyid med pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • མཚན་ཉིད་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • lakṣaṇaniḥsva­bhāvatā

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­25-27
  • 9.­18
  • n.­141
  • g.­144
g.­147

essencelessness regarding the ultimate

Wylie:
  • don dam pa ngo bo nyid med pa nyid
Tibetan:
  • དོན་དམ་པ་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་མེད་པ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • paramārthaniḥsva­bhāvatā

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • 7.­3
  • 7.­6-7
  • 7.­9
  • 7.­12-13
  • g.­144
g.­149

established

Wylie:
  • rnam par bzhag pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་བཞག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vyavasthā

Also translated here as “posited” and “determination.”

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • i.­46
  • 2.­2
  • 3.­5-6
  • 4.­7
  • 8.­12
  • 9.­11
  • 9.­17
  • 10.­3
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­10
  • 10.­12
  • n.­121
  • n.­125
  • n.­330
  • n.­336
  • n.­339
  • g.­296
g.­151

examine

Wylie:
  • rnam par dpyad
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་དཔྱད།
Sanskrit:
  • vicārita
  • vicāraṇa

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­3
g.­152

examine

Wylie:
  • ’jal ba
Tibetan:
  • འཇལ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­1
g.­155

Excellent Intelligence

Wylie:
  • legs pa’i blo gros
Tibetan:
  • ལེགས་པའི་བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • sādhumatī

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­159

extent

Wylie:
  • mthar thug pa
Tibetan:
  • མཐར་ཐུག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • paryanta

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­10
  • 9.­31
g.­163

faith

Wylie:
  • dad pa
Tibetan:
  • དད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • śraddhā

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­18-19
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­22
  • g.­167
  • g.­168
g.­164

falsity

Wylie:
  • skyon chags pa
Tibetan:
  • སྐྱོན་ཆགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • duṣṭatā

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­1
  • 6.­7
g.­165

Far Reaching

Wylie:
  • ring du song ba
Tibetan:
  • རིང་དུ་སོང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • dūraṅgamā

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­166

faultless state of truth

Wylie:
  • yang dag pa nyid skyon med pa
Tibetan:
  • ཡང་དག་པ་ཉིད་སྐྱོན་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • samyaktvanyāma

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­36
  • 9.­3
g.­167

five faculties

Wylie:
  • dbang po lnga
Tibetan:
  • དབང་པོ་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • pañcendriyāṇi

The five faculties are those of (1) faith, (2) vigor, (3) mindfulness, (4) concentration (samādhi), and (5) wisdom (prajñā). These are similar to the five forces but in a lesser stage of development.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­5
  • 7.­1
  • g.­162
  • g.­168
g.­168

five forces

Wylie:
  • stobs lnga
Tibetan:
  • སྟོབས་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • pañcabalāni

Differing only in intensity, the five forces are similar to the five faculties: (1) faith, (2) vigor, (3) mindfulness, (4) concentration (samādhi), and (5) wisdom (prajñā).

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­5
  • 7.­1
  • g.­167
  • g.­174
g.­170

five sciences

Wylie:
  • rigs pa’i gnas lnga po
Tibetan:
  • རིགས་པའི་གནས་ལྔ་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • pañcavidyā

The five sciences are grammar, logic, philosophy, medicine, and crafts.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­18
  • n.­294
g.­171

flexibility

Wylie:
  • shin tu sbyangs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • praśrabdhi

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Fifth among the branches or limbs of awakening (Skt. bodhyaṅga); a condition of calm, clarity, and composure in mind and body that serves as an antidote to negativity and confers a mental and physical capacity that facilitates meditation and virtuous action.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­3-5
  • 9.­18
  • n.­191
  • g.­47
g.­172

focus their minds within

Wylie:
  • sems nang du ’jog
Tibetan:
  • སེམས་ནང་དུ་འཇོག
Sanskrit:
  • cittasthāpana

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­10
g.­175

formula

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇī

“Formula” in the sense of a “mnemonic formula” encapsulating a method or key points in a few words. On the meaning of this term, see Braarvig 1985.

Also rendered here as “keeping it in mind,” “dhāraṇī.”

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­22
  • 10.­8
  • g.­107
  • g.­229
g.­176

foundations of training

Wylie:
  • bslab pa’i gzhi
Tibetan:
  • བསླབ་པའི་གཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • śikṣāpada

In this text, the six foundations of training are listed as generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative absorption, and wisdom.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­9
  • 9.­18
g.­177

four correct self-restraints

Wylie:
  • yang dag par spong ba bzhi
Tibetan:
  • ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • catvāri prahāṇāni

The four correct self-restraints are: giving up nonvirtues, avoiding nonvirtues, generating virtues, developing virtues. See Edgerton 1953, p. 389,2.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­5
  • 7.­1
  • g.­92
g.­179

four kinds of sustenance

Wylie:
  • zas bzhi
Tibetan:
  • ཟས་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • catvārāhārāḥ

The four kinds of sustenance are the sustenance of material ingestion, the sustenance of contact, the sustenance of will, and the sustenance of consciousness.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­2
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­25
  • g.­352
g.­180

four methods of conversion

Wylie:
  • bsdu ba’i dngos po bzhi’i ming
Tibetan:
  • བསྡུ་བའི་དངོས་པོ་བཞིའི་མིང་།
Sanskrit:
  • catvāri saṃgrahavastūni

Mahāvyutpatti 924. The four methods of conversion are: (1) generosity (dāna), (2) kind words (priyavādita), (3) being supportive of others (arthacaryā), and (4) being consistent with one’s own teachings (samānārthatā). (see Mvyut 924).

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­10
g.­181

four noble truths

Wylie:
  • ’phags pa’i bden pa bzhi
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་པའི་བདེན་པ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • catvāri āryasatyāni

The four noble truths, as stated in this sūtra, are: the comprehension of suffering, the abandoning of the cause of suffering, the actualization of the cessation of suffering, and the practice of the path.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 4.­3
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­30
  • 8.­36
  • 10.­7
  • g.­267
  • g.­375
g.­184

free of any wrongdoing

Wylie:
  • kha na ma tho ba med pa
Tibetan:
  • ཁ་ན་མ་ཐོ་བ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • anavadya

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­19-20
g.­185

Gam­bhīrārtha­saṃdhi­nirmo­cana

Wylie:
  • don zab dgongs pa nges par ’grel
Tibetan:
  • དོན་ཟབ་དགོངས་པ་ངེས་པར་འགྲེལ།
Sanskrit:
  • gam­bhīrārtha­saṃdhi­nirmo­cana

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • p.­4
  • 1.­1-2
  • 1.­4
  • 1.­6
g.­186

gandharva

Wylie:
  • dri za
Tibetan:
  • དྲི་ཟ།
Sanskrit:
  • gandharva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1
  • 10.­12
g.­187

garuḍa

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • garuḍa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • p.­1
g.­188

gates of liberation

Wylie:
  • rnam par thar pa’i sgo
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པའི་སྒོ།
Sanskrit:
  • vimokṣamukha

Emptiness, appearancelessness, and wishlessness.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • p.­1
  • g.­24
  • g.­408
g.­190

generosity

Wylie:
  • sbyin pa
Tibetan:
  • སྦྱིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­9
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­25
  • 9.­27
  • g.­176
  • g.­180
g.­191

gnosis

Wylie:
  • ye shes
Tibetan:
  • ཡེ་ཤེས།
Sanskrit:
  • jñāna

Located in 29 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­6-9
  • i.­13-14
  • i.­17
  • i.­22
  • i.­56
  • 1.­4
  • 4.­9
  • 7.­11-12
  • 7.­18-20
  • 7.­23
  • 8.­25
  • 8.­36
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­9-10
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­10
  • n.­69
  • n.­191
  • n.­230
  • n.­287
g.­192

gnosis and vision

Wylie:
  • shes pa dang mthong ba
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་པ་དང་མཐོང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • jñānadarśana

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­18
  • 1.­2-3
  • 1.­5
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­3
  • n.­55
  • n.­230
g.­193

gone forth

Wylie:
  • nges par ’byung ba
Tibetan:
  • ངེས་པར་འབྱུང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • niryātaka
  • parivrājaka

Having left one’s home to become a wandering mendicant. Also translated here as emancipation and as pathway.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • p.­4
  • g.­285
g.­195

Guṇākara

Wylie:
  • yon tan ’byung gnas
Tibetan:
  • ཡོན་ཏན་འབྱུང་གནས།
Sanskrit:
  • guṇākara

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Located in 18 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • i.­53
  • p.­4
  • 6.­1-12
  • n.­133-134
g.­197

Hard to Conquer

Wylie:
  • shin tu sbyang dka’
Tibetan:
  • ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱང་དཀའ།
Sanskrit:
  • sudurjayā

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­198

hearer

Wylie:
  • nyan thos
Tibetan:
  • ཉན་ཐོས།
Sanskrit:
  • śrāvaka

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

Located in 28 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1-3
  • i.­13
  • i.­19
  • i.­21
  • p.­3-4
  • 7.­14-16
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­30
  • 7.­33
  • 8.­20-21
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­41
  • 9.­31-32
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­6
  • 10.­10
  • n.­171
  • n.­226
  • g.­343
g.­200

how

Wylie:
  • ji tsam du
Tibetan:
  • ཇི་ཙམ་དུ།
Sanskrit:
  • tāvatā
  • tāvat
  • yāvat

With the meaning of “truly, really, indeed.”

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­1
  • 4.­6
  • 7.­25
g.­201

hungry ghost

Wylie:
  • yi dags
Tibetan:
  • ཡི་དགས།
Sanskrit:
  • preta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the five or six classes of sentient beings, into which beings are born as the karmic fruition of past miserliness. As the term in Sanskrit means “the departed,” they are analogous to the ancestral spirits of Vedic tradition, the pitṛs, who starve without the offerings of descendants. It is also commonly translated as “hungry ghost” or “starving spirit,” as in the Chinese 餓鬼 e gui.

They are sometimes said to reside in the realm of Yama, but are also frequently described as roaming charnel grounds and other inhospitable or frightening places along with piśācas and other such beings. They are particularly known to suffer from great hunger and thirst and the inability to acquire sustenance. Detailed descriptions of their realm and experience, including a list of the thirty-six classes of pretas, can be found in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 2.­1281– 2.1482.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­10
  • 9.­25
  • g.­331
g.­202

Illuminating

Wylie:
  • ’od byed pa
Tibetan:
  • འོད་བྱེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • prabhākarī

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­16
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­203

image

Wylie:
  • gzugs brnyan
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས་བརྙན།
Sanskrit:
  • pratibimba

Also translated as “reflection.”

Located in 20 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16-17
  • 8.­2
  • 8.­4-10
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­30
  • 8.­36-37
  • n.­181
  • n.­199-200
  • n.­223
  • g.­258
  • g.­317
g.­204

imaginary

Wylie:
  • kun brtags pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་བརྟགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • parikalpita

Located in 15 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • i.­10
  • i.­12
  • i.­14-15
  • 6.­11
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­7
  • n.­54
  • n.­64
  • n.­124-125
  • n.­162
  • n.­164-165
g.­208

Immovable

Wylie:
  • mi g.yo ba
Tibetan:
  • མི་གཡོ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • acalā

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
  • n.­301
g.­212

inexhaustible

Wylie:
  • mi zad pa
  • ma ’tshal ba
Tibetan:
  • མི་ཟད་པ།
  • མ་འཚལ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • akṣaya

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­19
  • 9.­21
  • 9.­23
  • 9.­25
g.­213

Inexpressible

Wylie:
  • brjod du med
Tibetan:
  • བརྗོད་དུ་མེད།
Sanskrit:
  • anabhilāpya

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­6-7
  • i.­56
  • 1.­1-6
  • 2.­2
  • 4.­1
  • 7.­24
  • 9.­26
  • n.­67
  • n.­71
  • g.­378
g.­215

innate

Wylie:
  • lhan cig skyes
Tibetan:
  • ལྷན་ཅིག་སྐྱེས།
Sanskrit:
  • sahaja

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­28
g.­217

innermost

Wylie:
  • snying po
Tibetan:
  • སྙིང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Lit “heart” or “marrow.”

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­29
g.­219

insight

Wylie:
  • lhag mthong
Tibetan:
  • ལྷག་མཐོང་།
Sanskrit:
  • vipaśyanā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

An important form of Buddhist meditation focusing on developing insight into the nature of phenomena. Often presented as part of a pair of meditation techniques, the other being śamatha, “calm abiding”.

Located in 41 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­16-18
  • i.­59
  • p.­1
  • 3.­7
  • 8.­1-6
  • 8.­9-10
  • 8.­12-20
  • 8.­24-26
  • 8.­32-36
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­10
  • n.­126
  • n.­186
  • n.­200
  • n.­230-231
  • n.­239-240
g.­220

intelligence

Wylie:
  • blo gros
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས།
Sanskrit:
  • mati

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­221

intention

Wylie:
  • bsam pa
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • āśaya

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­19
  • i.­22
  • 5.­1
  • 6.­2
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­23-24
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­32
  • 10.­7-8
  • 10.­11-12
  • n.­230
g.­223

investigation

Wylie:
  • dpyod pa
Tibetan:
  • དཔྱོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vicāra

In our text, the specific quality of vicāra is to remain mindful of nimitta in the sense of “mentally watching” or noting them without engaging in a more discursive way.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16
  • 8.­17
  • 10.­5
  • g.­40
g.­225

joy

Wylie:
  • dga’ ba
Tibetan:
  • དགའ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • prīti

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1
  • p.­4
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­37
  • 8.­40
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­14
  • g.­47
g.­226

karmadhāraya

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • karmadhāraya

Type of Sanskrit compound.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­42
  • n.­40
  • n.­53
  • n.­76
  • n.­120
  • n.­162
  • n.­181
  • n.­370
g.­227

keep it in mind

Wylie:
  • gzung bar bgyi
Tibetan:
  • གཟུང་བར་བགྱི།
Sanskrit:
  • dhārayāmi

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­31
  • 7.­33
  • 8.­41
  • 9.­33
  • 10.­12
  • n.­267
g.­228

keep it in mind

Wylie:
  • zung shig
Tibetan:
  • ཟུང་ཤིག
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraya

(cf. Sanskrit text in Matsuda 2013, p. 940 ad Lamotte VIII.41). Dhāraya is a causative imperative of dhṛ-.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­29
  • 7.­33
  • 8.­41
  • 9.­33
  • 10.­12
g.­229

keeping it in mind

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇī

Also rendered here as “dhāraṇī,” “formula.”

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­5
  • g.­107
  • g.­175
g.­230

kinnara

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • kinnara

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “is that human?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Brahmanical literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal. They are often depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • p.­1
g.­231

Kīrtimat

Wylie:
  • grags pa can
Tibetan:
  • གྲགས་པ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • kīrtimat

World of the tathāgata Viśālakīrti.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 2.­1
g.­233

lacked certainty

Wylie:
  • yid gnyis can
Tibetan:
  • ཡིད་གཉིས་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • vimati

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­1
  • 3.­1
g.­234

latent disposition

Wylie:
  • bag la nyal
Tibetan:
  • བག་ལ་ཉལ།
Sanskrit:
  • anuśaya

Also translated here as “predisposition.”

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • i.­24
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­28-29
  • 10.­8
  • n.­148
  • g.­300
g.­235

liberation

Wylie:
  • rnam par thar pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vimokṣa

See Hayal 1978: 229.

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­6
  • i.­13
  • i.­60
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­37
  • 8.­40
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­10
  • n.­151
g.­237

literal

Wylie:
  • sgra ji bzhin
Tibetan:
  • སྒྲ་ཇི་བཞིན།
Sanskrit:
  • yathāruta

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­20
  • 8.­24
  • 9.­13
  • 9.­32-33
g.­239

mahoraga

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • mahoraga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally “great serpents,” mahoragas are supernatural beings depicted as large, subterranean beings with human torsos and heads and the lower bodies of serpents. Their movements are said to cause earthquakes, and they make up a class of subterranean geomantic spirits whose movement through the seasons and months of the year is deemed significant for construction projects.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • p.­1
g.­240

Maitreya

Wylie:
  • byams pa
Tibetan:
  • བྱམས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • maitreya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in the heaven of Tuṣita, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. Maitreya literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita, meaning “Invincible.”

For more information on Maitreya, see, for example, the introduction to Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198).

Located in 49 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • i.­16
  • i.­18
  • i.­44
  • p.­4
  • 8.­1
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­5-41
  • n.­181
  • n.­185
  • n.­199-200
g.­241

Manifest

Wylie:
  • mngon du gyur pa
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་དུ་གྱུར་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • abhimukhī

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­242

Mañjuśrī

Wylie:
  • ’jam dpal
Tibetan:
  • འཇམ་དཔལ།
Sanskrit:
  • mañjuśrī

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtra in his left. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • i.­20
  • p.­4
  • 10.­1-12
  • n.­370
g.­245

meditative absorption

Wylie:
  • bsam gtan
Tibetan:
  • བསམ་གཏན།
Sanskrit:
  • dhyāna

See Hayal 1978, p. 221.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­11
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­9-12
  • 9.­18
  • g.­176
  • g.­334
g.­247

mental elaboration

Wylie:
  • spros pa
Tibetan:
  • སྤྲོས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • prapañca

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7
  • i.­20
  • i.­25
  • 1.­6
  • 8.­40
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­8
g.­250

mental inspection

Wylie:
  • so sor brtag pa
Tibetan:
  • སོ་སོར་བརྟག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • pratisaṃkhyā

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­59
  • 8.­28
  • 9.­7
  • n.­216
g.­252

mental stillness

Wylie:
  • zhi gnas
Tibetan:
  • ཞི་གནས།
Sanskrit:
  • śamatha

Located in 36 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­16-18
  • p.­1
  • 3.­7
  • 8.­1-6
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­11-20
  • 8.­24-26
  • 8.­32-36
  • n.­186
  • n.­199
  • n.­231
  • n.­239-240
g.­254

mind

Wylie:
  • sems
Tibetan:
  • སེམས།
Sanskrit:
  • citta

Located in 70 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­6
  • i.­8-12
  • i.­14
  • i.­16
  • i.­18
  • i.­22
  • i.­34
  • i.­45
  • i.­51
  • i.­55-56
  • i.­58
  • p.­2-3
  • 1.­5
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­3
  • 5.­6
  • 6.­6
  • 7.­8
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­13-14
  • 7.­16
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­33
  • 8.­3-9
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­18
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­28
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36-37
  • 8.­41
  • 9.­3-4
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­9
  • n.­69-70
  • n.­101
  • n.­106-107
  • n.­118
  • n.­148
  • n.­181
  • n.­199
  • n.­242
  • g.­25
  • g.­40
  • g.­161
  • g.­255
  • g.­324
  • g.­345
g.­256

mindfulness

Wylie:
  • dran pa
Tibetan:
  • དྲན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • smṛti

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This is the faculty that enables the mind to maintain its attention on a referent object, counteracting the arising of forgetfulness, which is a great obstacle to meditative stability. The root smṛ may mean “to recollect” but also simply “to think of.” Broadly speaking, smṛti, commonly translated as “mindfulness,” means to bring something to mind, not necessarily something experienced in a distant past but also something that is experienced in the present, such as the position of one’s body or the breath.

Together with alertness (samprajāna, shes bzhin), it is one of the two indispensable factors for the development of calm abiding (śamatha, zhi gnas).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1
  • g.­25
  • g.­47
  • g.­167
  • g.­168
g.­257

nāga

Wylie:
  • klu
Tibetan:
  • ཀླུ།
Sanskrit:
  • nāga

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • p.­1
g.­262

negation

Wylie:
  • skur pa ’debs pa
Tibetan:
  • སྐུར་པ་འདེབས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • apavāda

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­18
  • 9.­33
  • n.­81
g.­264

nidāna

Wylie:
  • gleng gzhi
Tibetan:
  • གླེང་གཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • nidāna

Introductory part of a sūtra .

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­29
  • i.­33
  • i.­50
  • n.­36
g.­265

nirvāṇa

Wylie:
  • mya ngan las ’das pa
Tibetan:
  • མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • nirvāṇa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Sanskrit, the term nirvāṇa literally means “extinguishment” and the Tibetan mya ngan las ’das pa literally means “gone beyond sorrow.” As a general term, it refers to the cessation of all suffering, afflicted mental states (kleśa), and causal processes (karman) that lead to rebirth and suffering in cyclic existence, as well as to the state in which all such rebirth and suffering has permanently ceased.

More specifically, three main types of nirvāṇa are identified. (1) The first type of nirvāṇa, called nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), is the state in which arhats or buddhas have attained awakening but are still dependent on the conditioned aggregates until their lifespan is exhausted. (2) At the end of life, given that there are no more causes for rebirth, these aggregates cease and no new aggregates arise. What occurs then is called nirvāṇa without remainder ( anupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa), which refers to the unconditioned element (dhātu) of nirvāṇa in which there is no remainder of the aggregates. (3) The Mahāyāna teachings distinguish the final nirvāṇa of buddhas from that of arhats, the nirvāṇa of arhats not being considered ultimate. The buddhas attain what is called nonabiding nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa), which transcends the extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, i.e., existence and peace. This is the nirvāṇa that is the goal of the Mahāyāna path.

Located in 30 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • i.­49
  • 2.­3
  • 3.­3
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­8-9
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­22
  • 7.­24
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­30-31
  • 8.­12-13
  • 8.­35
  • 8.­38
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­8
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­7
  • n.­80
  • n.­82
  • n.­168
  • n.­191
  • g.­182
g.­266

noble being

Wylie:
  • ’phags pa
Tibetan:
  • འཕགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ārya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit ārya has the general meaning of a noble person, one of a higher class or caste. In Buddhist literature, depending on the context, it often means specifically one who has gained the realization of the path and is superior for that reason. In particular, it applies to stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and worthy ones (arhats) and is also used as an epithet of bodhisattvas. In the five-path system, it refers to someone who has achieved at least the path of seeing (darśanamārga).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­2-3
  • 8.­33
  • 9.­10
  • n.­69
g.­268

non-Buddhist

Wylie:
  • mu stegs pa
Tibetan:
  • མུ་སྟེགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • tīrthika

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Those of other religious or philosophical orders, contemporary with the early Buddhist order, including Jains, Jaṭilas, Ājīvikas, and Cārvākas. Tīrthika (“forder”) literally translates as “one belonging to or associated with (possessive suffix –ika) stairs for landing or for descent into a river,” or “a bathing place,” or “a place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams” (Monier-Williams). The term may have originally referred to temple priests at river crossings or fords where travelers propitiated a deity before crossing. The Sanskrit term seems to have undergone metonymic transfer in referring to those able to ford the turbulent river of saṃsāra (as in the Jain tīrthaṅkaras, “ford makers”), and it came to be used in Buddhist sources to refer to teachers of rival religious traditions. The Sanskrit term is closely rendered by the Tibetan mu stegs pa: “those on the steps (stegs pa) at the edge (mu).”

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­3
  • 2.­1
g.­269

nonduality

Wylie:
  • gnyis su med pa
Tibetan:
  • གཉིས་སུ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • advaya

Mahāvyutpatti 1717.

Located in 19 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • i.­6-9
  • i.­13
  • i.­15
  • i.­22
  • i.­56
  • p.­2
  • 1.­1
  • 1.­6
  • 4.­9
  • 7.­24
  • 10.­10
  • n.­365
  • n.­370
  • g.­378
g.­270

object

Wylie:
  • dngos po
  • yul
Tibetan:
  • དངོས་པོ།
  • ཡུལ།
Sanskrit:
  • vastu

Located in 80 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10-12
  • i.­16-18
  • i.­21
  • i.­34
  • 1.­2-5
  • 5.­3-6
  • 6.­7
  • 7.­25-27
  • 8.­4-7
  • 8.­9-10
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­19-27
  • 8.­29-30
  • 8.­33-38
  • 8.­40
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­17-18
  • 10.­4-5
  • 10.­7
  • n.­63
  • n.­68
  • n.­92
  • n.­95
  • n.­157
  • n.­181
  • n.­186
  • n.­189
  • n.­199-200
  • n.­202
  • n.­218
  • n.­230-231
  • n.­239-240
  • n.­290
  • n.­325
  • n.­329
  • n.­333
  • g.­129
  • g.­194
  • g.­258
  • g.­324
  • g.­334
  • g.­363
g.­271

object conducive to purification

Wylie:
  • rnam par dag pa’i dmigs pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་དག་པའི་དམིགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • *viśuddhyālambana

See Schmithausen 2014, p. 362, §306.5 and n. 1644.

Located in 11 passages in the translation:

  • i.­55
  • 4.­8
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­25-27
  • 8.­20
  • n.­92
  • n.­95
  • n.­125
  • n.­222
g.­273

obscuration

Wylie:
  • kun tu rmongs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་རྨོངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃmoha

Also translated here as “delusion.”

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­16
  • 7.­18-19
  • 7.­22-23
  • g.­102
g.­276

obstruction

Wylie:
  • sgrib pa
Tibetan:
  • སྒྲིབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • āvaraṇa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The obscurations to liberation and omniscience. They are generally categorized as two types: affective obscurations (kleśāvaraṇa), the arising of afflictive emotions; and cognitive obscurations (jñeyāvaraṇa), those caused by misapprehension and incorrect understanding about the nature of reality.

The term is used also as a reference to a set five hindrances on the path: longing for sense pleasures (Skt. kāmacchanda), malice (Skt. vyāpāda), sloth and torpor (Skt. styānamiddha), excitement and remorse (Skt. auddhatyakaukṛtya), and doubt (Skt. vicikitsā).

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­18
  • 7.­11
  • 7.­28
  • 8.­33
  • 8.­35-36
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­25
  • 9.­28
  • n.­230
g.­277

of a single nature

Wylie:
  • ro gcig pa
Tibetan:
  • རོ་གཅིག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ekarasa

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­8
  • i.­17
  • 4.­6-12
  • n.­94
  • g.­378
g.­280

other-dependent

Wylie:
  • gzhan gyi dbang
Tibetan:
  • གཞན་གྱི་དབང་།
Sanskrit:
  • paratantra

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10
  • i.­12
  • i.­17
  • 6.­11
  • 7.­20
  • 8.­31
  • 9.­18
  • n.­95
  • n.­150
  • g.­205
g.­283

Para­mārtha­samud­gata

Wylie:
  • don dam yang dag ’phags
Tibetan:
  • དོན་དམ་ཡང་དག་འཕགས།
Sanskrit:
  • para­mārtha­samud­gata

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Located in 30 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • p.­4
  • 7.­1-11
  • 7.­14-15
  • 7.­17-18
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­23
  • 7.­25
  • 7.­29-30
  • 7.­32-33
  • n.­133-134
  • n.­147
g.­285

pathway

Wylie:
  • nges par ’byung ba
Tibetan:
  • ངེས་པར་འབྱུང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • niḥsaraṇa
  • niryāṇa

Setting forth, issue, exit, departure, escape, a road out of town. Also translated here as “emancipated” and “gone forth.”

See also n.­39.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1
  • g.­136
  • g.­193
g.­286

patience

Wylie:
  • bzod pa
Tibetan:
  • བཟོད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A term meaning acceptance, forbearance, or patience. As the third of the six perfections, patience is classified into three kinds: the capacity to tolerate abuse from sentient beings, to tolerate the hardships of the path to buddhahood, and to tolerate the profound nature of reality. As a term referring to a bodhisattva’s realization, dharmakṣānti (chos la bzod pa) can refer to the ways one becomes “receptive” to the nature of Dharma, and it can be an abbreviation of anutpattikadharmakṣānti, “forbearance for the unborn nature, or nonproduction, of dharmas.”

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • p.­3
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­11-12
  • 9.­14
  • 9.­18
  • g.­176
g.­288

perfection

Wylie:
  • pha rol tu phyin pa
Tibetan:
  • ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • pāramitā

Located in 25 passages in the translation:

  • i.­19-20
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­6
  • 9.­9-24
  • 9.­26-27
  • 9.­33
  • 10.­1
  • n.­291
g.­289

perfection of wisdom

Wylie:
  • shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñāpāramitā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The sixth of the six perfections, it refers to the profound understanding of the emptiness of all phenomena, the realization of ultimate reality. It is often personified as a female deity, worshiped as the “Mother of All Buddhas” (sarva­jina­mātā).

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­10
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­26
g.­290

perfectly pure cognition

Wylie:
  • blo shin tu rnam par dag pa
Tibetan:
  • བློ་ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • suviśuddhabuddhiḥ

Mahāvyutpatti 351.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • p.­1
g.­292

phenomenal appearance

Wylie:
  • mtshan ma
Tibetan:
  • མཚན་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • nimitta

Located in 41 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6
  • i.­10
  • i.­17-18
  • 2.­2-3
  • 3.­3
  • 3.­7
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­4-5
  • 4.­11
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­7
  • 6.­10
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­12
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­17
  • 8.­26-27
  • 8.­29-30
  • 8.­32
  • 8.­34-37
  • 9.­3-5
  • 9.­18
  • n.­70
  • n.­82
  • n.­162-165
  • n.­185
  • n.­301
  • g.­223
g.­294

point where phenomena end

Wylie:
  • dngos po’i mtha’
Tibetan:
  • དངོས་པོའི་མཐའ།
Sanskrit:
  • vastvanta

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­2
  • 8.­36
g.­296

posited

Wylie:
  • rnam par bzhag pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་བཞག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vyavasthā

This term has the connotation of something being agreed upon, represented, arranged, settled, decreed, or established. Also translated here as “established” and “posited.”

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • 6.­4
  • 7.­4
  • 7.­25-27
  • n.­80
  • n.­82
  • n.­133
  • g.­149
g.­300

predisposition

Wylie:
  • bag la nyal
Tibetan:
  • བག་ལ་ཉལ།
Sanskrit:
  • anuśaya

Also translated here are “latent disposition.”

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • 7.­10
  • 7.­13
  • g.­234
g.­301

primordially in the state of peace

Wylie:
  • gzod ma nas zhib
Tibetan:
  • གཟོད་མ་ནས་ཞིབ།
Sanskrit:
  • ādiśānta

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­8-9
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­22
  • 7.­24
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­30-31
  • n.­168
g.­309

purification

Wylie:
  • rnam par dag pa
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་དག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • viśuddhi

Located in 31 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10-11
  • i.­13
  • i.­17-18
  • i.­23
  • 6.­11-12
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­24
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­19-20
  • 8.­22
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­36
  • 9.­1-2
  • 9.­4
  • 9.­6-7
  • 9.­18-19
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­7-8
  • n.­95
  • n.­191
  • n.­279
  • n.­292
g.­311

quality

Wylie:
  • chos
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས།
Sanskrit:
  • dharma

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The polysemous word chos (usually a translation of dharma) is used here in the sense of “qualities,” as when someone or something is said to possess particularly efficacious, good, or beneficial qualities. It also can mean “virtue” in the nonreligious and nonmoral sense.

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 3.­6
  • 9.­31
  • 10.­7
  • n.­69
g.­312

Radiant

Wylie:
  • ’od ’phro ba can
Tibetan:
  • འོད་འཕྲོ་བ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • arciṣmatī

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­315

recollect what they have heard

Wylie:
  • thos pa’i gzungs
Tibetan:
  • ཐོས་པའི་གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • śrutidhāraṇī

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­3
g.­316

referential object

Wylie:
  • dmigs pa
Tibetan:
  • དམིགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ālambana

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

dmigs (pa) translates a number of Sanskrit terms, including ālambana, upalabdhi, and ālambate. These terms commonly refer to the apprehending of a subject, an object, and the relationships that exist between them. The term may also be translated as “referentiality,” meaning a system based on the existence of referent objects, referent subjects, and the referential relationships that exist between them. As part of their doctrine of “threefold nonapprehending/nonreferentiality” (’khor gsum mi dmigs pa), Mahāyāna Buddhists famously assert that all three categories of apprehending lack substantiality.

Located in 45 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16-17
  • i.­21
  • 4.­1-6
  • 4.­8
  • 8.­2-3
  • 8.­5-7
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­12-17
  • 8.­19-20
  • 8.­25-27
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­31
  • 8.­34
  • 8.­36-37
  • 9.­10
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­4-5
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­10
  • n.­42
  • n.­92
  • n.­95
  • n.­181
  • n.­199-200
g.­317

reflection

Wylie:
  • gzugs brnyan
Tibetan:
  • གཟུགས་བརྙན།
Sanskrit:
  • pratibimba

Also translated as “image.”

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­9
  • i.­22
  • 5.­5
  • 7.­2
  • 8.­7
  • 9.­12
  • 10.­10
  • n.­215
  • n.­365
  • g.­203
g.­318

results produced by the maturation [of their karma]

Wylie:
  • rnam par smin pa’i ’bras bu
Tibetan:
  • རྣམ་པར་སྨིན་པའི་འབྲས་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • vipākaphala

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­19
g.­319

room

Wylie:
  • gnas
Tibetan:
  • གནས།
Sanskrit:
  • sthāna

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • p.­1
g.­324

sense domain

Wylie:
  • skye mched
Tibetan:
  • སྐྱེ་མཆེད།
Sanskrit:
  • āyatana

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

These can be listed as twelve or as six sense sources (sometimes also called sense fields, bases of cognition, or simply āyatanas).

In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: (1–2) eye and form, (3–4) ear and sound, (5–6) nose and odor, (7–8) tongue and taste, (9–10) body and touch, (11–12) mind and mental phenomena.

In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned, and they are the inner sense sources (identical to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

Located in 12 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • i.­19
  • 4.­2
  • 4.­8-10
  • 7.­1
  • 7.­25
  • 8.­20-21
  • 9.­32
g.­325

sentient being

Wylie:
  • sems can
Tibetan:
  • སེམས་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • sattva

Often rendered simply as “being.”

Located in 56 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­5-7
  • i.­12-13
  • i.­20-22
  • p.­1
  • p.­4
  • 1.­5
  • 3.­7
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­6
  • 5.­2
  • 6.­2
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­10-12
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­17-20
  • 7.­24
  • 8.­3
  • 8.­8
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­40-41
  • 9.­6-10
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­15
  • 9.­17
  • 9.­24-25
  • 9.­31
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­4-5
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­9-10
  • 10.­12
  • n.­90
  • n.­102
  • n.­147
  • n.­290
  • g.­359
g.­327

seven precious substances

Wylie:
  • rin po che sna bdun
Tibetan:
  • རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྣ་བདུན།
Sanskrit:
  • saptaratna

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The set of seven precious materials or substances includes a range of precious metals and gems, but their exact list varies. The set often consists of gold, silver, beryl, crystal, red pearls, emeralds, and white coral, but may also contain lapis lazuli, ruby, sapphire, chrysoberyl, diamonds, etc. The term is frequently used in the sūtras to exemplify preciousness, wealth, and beauty, and can describe treasures, offering materials, or the features of architectural structures such as stūpas, palaces, thrones, etc. The set is also used to describe the beauty and prosperity of buddha realms and the realms of the gods.

In other contexts, the term saptaratna can also refer to the seven precious possessions of a cakravartin or to a set of seven precious moral qualities.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1
  • n.­35
g.­329

shift in one’s basis of existence

Wylie:
  • gnas gyur pa
Tibetan:
  • གནས་གྱུར་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • āśraya­parivṛtti

See n.­191.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16
  • i.­20
  • i.­56
  • 8.­13
  • 10.­1
  • n.­191
  • n.­276
g.­330

Single Vehicle

Wylie:
  • theg pa gcig pa
Tibetan:
  • ཐེག་པ་གཅིག་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ekayāna

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­4
  • i.­13
  • i.­19
  • i.­57
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­24
  • 9.­32
  • n.­171
g.­332

slow-witted

Wylie:
  • blo gros ngan pa
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས་ངན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • kumati

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 1.­4
  • 2.­1
g.­333

solitary realizer

Wylie:
  • rang sangs rgyas
Tibetan:
  • རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
Sanskrit:
  • pratyekabuddha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyeka­buddha is not regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • p.­4
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­28
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­34
  • 9.­31
  • 10.­2
  • 10.­10
g.­334

sovereign power

Wylie:
  • byin gyi rlabs
Tibetan:
  • བྱིན་གྱི་རླབས།
Sanskrit:
  • adhiṣṭhāna
  • adhiṣṭhita

This term is usually translated into English with “blessings.” However, as explained in Edgerton 1953, p. 15; Eckel 1994, pp. 90–93; Gómez 2011, pp. 539 and 541; and Fiordalis 2012, pp. 104 and 118, adhiṣṭhāna conveys the notions of control (of one’s environment as a result of meditative absorption), authority, or protection (see Abhidharmakośa VII.51, cf. La Vallée Poussin 1925, p. 119ff.). Adhiṣṭhāna is also used to convey the idea of transformation through exerting one’s control over objects, people, and places. The term “sovereign power” seems to cover all these shades of meaning as well as the various usages of the Sanskrit term, for example satyādhiṣṭhāna “the sovereign power of truth” and adhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭita “empowered by the sovereign power (of the Tathāgata).”

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • i.­21
  • p.­1
  • 10.­3-4
  • 10.­10-11
g.­335

space

Wylie:
  • nam mkha’
Tibetan:
  • ནམ་མཁའ།
Sanskrit:
  • ākāśa

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • 4.­11
  • 7.­7
  • 7.­28-29
  • 8.­11
  • 8.­37
  • n.­277
  • g.­86
  • g.­194
g.­336

specific defining characteristic

Wylie:
  • rang gi mtshan nyid
Tibetan:
  • རང་གི་མཚན་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • svalakṣaṇa

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • 7.­1
  • 7.­8
  • 8.­36
  • 9.­13
  • n.­124
g.­338

spontaneously accomplished

Wylie:
  • lhun gyis grub pa
Tibetan:
  • ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • anābhoga

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­4
  • n.­301
g.­339

stage

Wylie:
  • sa
Tibetan:
  • ས།
Sanskrit:
  • bhūmi

Located in 42 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4-5
  • i.­18-20
  • i.­40-41
  • i.­46-47
  • p.­4
  • 7.­20
  • 8.­16
  • 8.­35-36
  • 9.­1-6
  • 9.­20
  • 9.­27-28
  • 9.­31
  • 9.­33
  • 10.­1
  • 10.­4
  • n.­126
  • n.­276
  • n.­301
  • g.­51
  • g.­59
  • g.­155
  • g.­165
  • g.­167
  • g.­197
  • g.­202
  • g.­208
  • g.­241
  • g.­312
  • g.­342
  • g.­392
g.­340

stage of engagement through aspiration

Wylie:
  • mos pa spyod pa’i sa
Tibetan:
  • མོས་པ་སྤྱོད་པའི་ས།
Sanskrit:
  • adhimukticaryābhūmiḥ

Mahāvyutpatti 897.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 3.­1
g.­341

stainless

Wylie:
  • sbyangs pa
Tibetan:
  • སྦྱངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • uttapta
  • viśuddha

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­19-20
g.­342

Stainless

Wylie:
  • dri ma med pa
Tibetan:
  • དྲི་མ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • vimalā

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­343

Subhūti

Wylie:
  • rab ’byor
Tibetan:
  • རབ་འབྱོར།
Sanskrit:
  • subhūti

The name of a hearer.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • 4.­1
  • 4.­7-12
g.­346

subtle transgression

Wylie:
  • ltung ba phra mo
Tibetan:
  • ལྟུང་བ་ཕྲ་མོ།
Sanskrit:
  • sūkṣmāpatti

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­35
  • 9.­3-5
g.­347

superficial

Wylie:
  • lpags shun
Tibetan:
  • ལྤགས་ཤུན།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Lit. “like the skin.”

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­29
g.­349

superimposition

Wylie:
  • sgro ’dogs pa
Tibetan:
  • སྒྲོ་འདོགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • samāropa

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­10
  • 9.­18
  • 9.­33
g.­350

superior knowledge

Wylie:
  • mngon par shes pa
Tibetan:
  • མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • abhijñā

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­5
  • g.­367
g.­351

superior mind

Wylie:
  • lhag pa’i sems
Tibetan:
  • ལྷག་པའི་སེམས།
Sanskrit:
  • adhicitta

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­2
  • 9.­9
g.­353

Su­viśuddha­mati

Wylie:
  • blo gros shin tu rnam dag
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས་ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣམ་དག
Sanskrit:
  • su­viśuddha­mati

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Located in 13 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • p.­4
  • 3.­1-7
  • n.­80-82
g.­354

tathāgata

Wylie:
  • de bzhin gshegs pa
Tibetan:
  • དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • tathāgata

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha­(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

Located in 53 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4-5
  • i.­20-22
  • i.­55
  • p.­1
  • p.­3
  • 2.­1
  • 4.­10
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­6
  • 6.­1-2
  • 6.­11
  • 7.­2
  • 7.­12
  • 7.­14
  • 7.­16-17
  • 7.­19
  • 7.­29
  • 7.­33
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­31-32
  • 8.­35-37
  • 8.­39
  • 8.­41
  • 9.­33
  • 10.­1-4
  • 10.­7-12
  • n.­173
  • n.­308
  • n.­358
  • n.­370
  • g.­178
  • g.­231
  • g.­334
  • g.­359
  • g.­400
g.­355

tatpuruṣa

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • tatpuruṣa

Type of Sanskrit compound.

Located in 9 passages in the translation:

  • i.­42
  • n.­76
  • n.­86
  • n.­120
  • n.­124
  • n.­181
  • n.­222
  • n.­327
  • n.­370
g.­363

thing

Wylie:
  • dngos po
  • ngo bo
Tibetan:
  • དངོས་པོ།
  • ངོ་བོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bhāva

Also translated here as “object.”

Located in 19 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • i.­16
  • i.­50
  • 1.­4-5
  • 8.­2-3
  • 10.­7
  • 10.­12
  • n.­100
  • n.­124
  • n.­169
  • n.­218
  • n.­339-340
  • n.­353
  • n.­357
  • n.­365
  • g.­178
g.­364

thinks

Wylie:
  • bye brag phyed pa
Tibetan:
  • བྱེ་བྲག་ཕྱེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • mata

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­14
g.­366

thought

Wylie:
  • yid
Tibetan:
  • ཡིད།
Sanskrit:
  • manas

Regarding the term “thought” as a translation for the Sanskrit manas, see Schmithausen 2014.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • i.­9
  • i.­22
  • 5.­1
  • 5.­6
  • 8.­20
  • 10.­9
  • n.­101
g.­368

three worlds

Wylie:
  • khams gsum
Tibetan:
  • ཁམས་གསུམ།
Sanskrit:
  • tridhātu
  • traidhātuka

The three worlds are: the desire realm (kāmadhātu, ’dod khams), form realm (rūpadhātu, gzugs khams) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu, gzugs med khams). These three worlds include all of saṃsāra.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • p.­1
  • 8.­20
g.­373

true reality

Wylie:
  • de bzhin nyid
  • de kho na
  • de nyid
Tibetan:
  • དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།
  • དེ་ཁོ་ན།
  • དེ་ཉིད།
Sanskrit:
  • tathatā
  • tattva

The true state or nature of things. See also n.­97.

Located in 26 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • i.­16-17
  • i.­55
  • 4.­9
  • 6.­6
  • 7.­25-27
  • 8.­9
  • 8.­13
  • 8.­20-21
  • 8.­23
  • 8.­26-29
  • 8.­36-37
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­5
  • 10.­7
  • n.­97
  • n.­191
  • n.­217
g.­374

truly

Wylie:
  • ji tsam du
Tibetan:
  • ཇི་ཙམ་དུ།
Sanskrit:
  • yāvat
  • tāvatā
  • tāvat

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 9.­5
  • 9.­31
  • g.­200
g.­375

truth

Wylie:
  • bden pa
Tibetan:
  • བདེན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • satya

See the “two truths” and “four noble truths.”

Located in 31 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­22
  • 1.­5
  • 3.­1
  • 3.­3
  • 4.­8-10
  • 7.­20-23
  • 7.­26
  • 8.­13-14
  • 8.­20
  • 9.­3
  • 9.­9
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­7
  • n.­80-82
  • n.­92
  • n.­191
  • n.­217
  • n.­366
  • g.­334
  • g.­377
g.­376

truth body

Wylie:
  • chos kyi sku
Tibetan:
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།
Sanskrit:
  • dharmakāya

Located in 16 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16
  • i.­18
  • i.­20
  • i.­22
  • 8.­15
  • 8.­35
  • 9.­3
  • 10.­1-3
  • 10.­9-10
  • 10.­12
  • n.­191
  • n.­230
  • n.­308
g.­377

two truths

Wylie:
  • bden pa gnyis
Tibetan:
  • བདེན་པ་གཉིས།
Sanskrit:
  • satyadvaya

The ultimate and relative, or conventional, truth.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­57
  • n.­64
  • g.­375
g.­378

ultimate

Wylie:
  • don dam pa
  • don dam
Tibetan:
  • དོན་དམ་པ།
  • དོན་དམ།
Sanskrit:
  • paramārtha

The ultimate is said to be inexpressible, nondual, transcending speculation, transcending difference and sameness, and of a single nature (i.e., anabhilāpya, advaya, sarva­tarka­samati­krānta, bhe­dābhe­dasa­mati­krānta, ekarasa).

Located in 63 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­4-11
  • i.­13
  • i.­15
  • i.­18
  • i.­21-22
  • 1.­1
  • 2.­1-4
  • 3.­1-7
  • 4.­6-12
  • 5.­6
  • 7.­6
  • 7.­18
  • 7.­24-27
  • 7.­33
  • 8.­21
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­37
  • 9.­12
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­7
  • n.­1
  • n.­53
  • n.­67-68
  • n.­71
  • n.­76
  • n.­80
  • n.­82
  • n.­92
  • n.­94-95
  • n.­125
  • n.­151
  • n.­191
  • g.­377
g.­382

unborn

Wylie:
  • ma skyes pa
Tibetan:
  • མ་སྐྱེས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • anutpanna

Located in 14 passages in the translation:

  • i.­11
  • i.­14
  • 7.­1-2
  • 7.­8-9
  • 7.­17
  • 7.­20
  • 7.­22
  • 7.­24
  • 7.­28
  • 7.­30-31
  • n.­168
g.­383

unconditioned

Wylie:
  • ’du ma byas
Tibetan:
  • འདུ་མ་བྱས།
Sanskrit:
  • asaṃskṛta

Located in 17 passages in the translation:

  • i.­6-8
  • i.­11
  • i.­22
  • i.­25
  • 1.­1-5
  • 7.­9
  • 8.­29
  • 8.­36
  • 10.­8
  • n.­64
  • n.­88
g.­392

Utmost Joy

Wylie:
  • rab tu dga’ ba
Tibetan:
  • རབ་ཏུ་དགའ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • pramuditā

The name of a bodhisattva stage.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • 8.­16
  • 9.­1
  • 9.­4
g.­397

Vidhi­vatpari­pṛcchaka

Wylie:
  • tshul bzhin kun ’dri
Tibetan:
  • ཚུལ་བཞིན་ཀུན་འདྲི།
Sanskrit:
  • vidhi­vatpari­pṛcchaka

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • p.­4
  • 1.­1-2
  • 1.­4
g.­398

vigor

Wylie:
  • brtson ’grus
Tibetan:
  • བརྩོན་འགྲུས།
Sanskrit:
  • vīrya

Also translated here as “diligence.”

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • g.­40
  • g.­47
  • g.­112
  • g.­167
  • g.­168
g.­400

Viśālakīrti

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • viśālakīrti

The name of a tathāgata

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • 2.­1
  • g.­231
g.­401

Viśālamati

Wylie:
  • blo gros yangs pa
Tibetan:
  • བློ་གྲོས་ཡངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • viśālamati

A bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Located in 10 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­4
  • p.­4
  • 5.­1-7
g.­402

vow

Wylie:
  • sdom pa
Tibetan:
  • སྡོམ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • saṃvara

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­21
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­6
g.­404

wavering

Wylie:
  • rgyu ba med pa
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱུ་བ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • apracāra

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­8
g.­405

whose defining characteristic is beyond all speculation

Wylie:
  • rtog ge thams cad las yang dag par ’das pa
Tibetan:
  • རྟོག་གེ་ཐམས་ཅད་ལས་ཡང་དག་པར་འདས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • sarva­tarka­samati­krānta

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­4
  • 2.­1-2
  • 2.­4
g.­407

wisdom

Wylie:
  • shes rab
Tibetan:
  • ཤེས་རབ།
Sanskrit:
  • prajñā

Located in 23 passages in the translation:

  • p.­3
  • 1.­4-5
  • 7.­13
  • 7.­18
  • 7.­20
  • 8.­10
  • 8.­14
  • 8.­20
  • 8.­24
  • 8.­32
  • 9.­2
  • 9.­5
  • 9.­9-12
  • 9.­18
  • 10.­9
  • g.­167
  • g.­168
  • g.­176
  • g.­242
g.­408

wishlessness

Wylie:
  • smon pa med pa
Tibetan:
  • སྨོན་པ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • apraṇihita

One of the three gates of liberation along with appearancelessness and emptiness.

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • p.­1
  • 9.­18
  • g.­24
  • g.­188
g.­411

without support

Wylie:
  • mi gnas pa
Tibetan:
  • མི་གནས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • apratiṣṭhita

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 9.­18
g.­413

yakṣa

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • yakṣa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.

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    Unraveling the Intent

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    84000. Unraveling the Intent (Saṃdhi­nirmocana, dgongs pa nges ’grel, Toh 106). Translated by Buddhavacana Translation Group. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025. https://84000.co/translation/toh106/UT22084-049-001-chapter-9.Copy
    84000. Unraveling the Intent (Saṃdhi­nirmocana, dgongs pa nges ’grel, Toh 106). Translated by Buddhavacana Translation Group, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh106/UT22084-049-001-chapter-9.Copy
    84000. (2025) Unraveling the Intent (Saṃdhi­nirmocana, dgongs pa nges ’grel, Toh 106). (Buddhavacana Translation Group, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh106/UT22084-049-001-chapter-9.Copy

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