It is perhaps beyond consciousness and unconsciousness, though ordinary people transit it unconsciously, never noticing the all-too-rapid (for them)
transition
from the uncon- scious segment of imminence into clear light and back into imminence.
Thurman-Robert-a-F-Tr-Tsong-Khapa-Losang-Drakpa-Brilliant-Illumination-of-the-Lamp-of-the-Five-Stages
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Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
Adamantine, diamond (see also "vajra"}. The Sanskrit vajra means "thunderbolt," "diamond," "adamantine," and so forth, various objects connoting immutability and unbreakability. In Vedic India it was the weapon of the tribal father-god, lndra, a thunderbolt that he threw down from the heavens to break the citadels of the enemy. The Buddhists took this primal symbol of the supreme power of the universe and made it a symbol of universal love and compassion, in order to affirm their vision that love is the strong force in the universe. Thus "vajra" is used in names of Buddha deities to indicate that they are in touch through wisdom with the realm of ultimate reality and that they express the natural universal compassion.
adept, great. "Adept" is used to translate the Sanskrit siddha, referring to a practitioner of Tantra who has attained buddhahood in his or her ordinary body, having gone beyond life, death, and the between, yet remaining in association with his or her previous gross body in order to relate liberatingly with contemporary beings.
addiction (kll! 'Sa - nyon mongs). This word has been translated "passion," and more recently "affliction," neither wrong. Its etymology comes from the verb root klis- to "torment," "twist," so it is definitely something painful. Lust, hatred. delusion, envy. pride, fanaticism-all emotions that are painful to experience-cause painful outcomes through unskillful interactions with others. Passion is an intense emotion that can how- ever be exalting and beautiful, or at least it has that connotation (granted the passion of Christ was definitely painful). Affliction is basically the same as suffering, not as much a cause of suffering. An addiction is a habitual behavior that seems to benefit one's state ofbeing and so seduces the addict, but actually causes suffering to the addict and those around him or her. One can be addicted to lust, addicted to hate, addicted to confusion, to a fanatical belief, to pride or envy or avarice. Those addictions then inevitably cause suffering and affliction.
aggregate (skandha). The five-rapa, vedana, samjna, samskara, and vijnana-have such a particular technical sense that some may wish to leave them untranslated. Nevertheless, it seems preferable to give a translation-in spite of the drawbacks of each possible term-in order to convey the same sense of a useful schema of the psychophysical complex. ( 1 ) For rapa, "matter" is preferred to "form" because it more concretely connotes the physical and gross. (2) For vedana, "sensation" is preferred to "feelings," as not so inclusive of emotions. (3} For samjiiil, "perception" is preferable to "conception," as itself meaning conceptually determined experience. (4} For samskilra, which covers a number of mental functions as well as anomalous forces, "creation" or "function" gives the general idea. (5} And "consciousness" is so well established for vijnana (although what we normally think of as consciousness is more
like samjiiil, i. e. , conceptual and notional, and vijnana is rather the "pure awareness" prior to concepts} as to be left unchallenged.
A? hobhya (Buddha). One of the five archetypal transcendent buddhas, Lord of the Vajra Buddha-clan, he represents the ultimate reality perfection wisdom, the transmutation of the poison of hatred, the color blue, and the aggregate of consciousness.
641
642 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
alienated individual (prthagjana - so sor skye bo). Often translated "common person," this term in Buddhism refers to a person who is cognitively the opposite of a "noble" (arya) person. A "noble" person is defined as one who has attained the vision path (darsanamilrga) and thus has had an initial nonconceptual experience of selflessness, becoming "noble" by realizing the equality of others' perspective to his or her own. The opposite of this kind of noble person is one who is enclosed within a sense of exclusive and absolute self as different from and opposed to others, and who thus does not consider others' perspective from any visceral level. Such an automatically self- centered person is necessarily alienated from the "otherness" of the world as a whole and hence is very aptly described as "alienated. " Etymologically both prthag and so
sor refer to separateness.
all-accomplishing wisdom. This is one of the five wisdoms, resulting from the transmuta- tion of envy, associated with the emerald and the color green, and with the Archetype Buddha Amoghasiddhi.
AmitAbha. One of the five archetypal transcendent buddhas, Lord of the Lotus Buddha- clan. He is associated with the western direction and the buddhaverse Sukhavati. He represents the individuating wisdom, the transmutation of the poison of lust, the color red, and the aggregate of perception. His buddha consort is PaQQaravAsini.
Amoghasiddhi. One of the five archetypal transcendent buddhas, Lord of the Karma Buddha-clan, associated with the northern direction. He represents the all-accomplishing wisdom, the transmutation of the poison of envy, the color green, and the aggregate of creations. His buddha consort is TarA, sometimes called Samayatara.
ancestral mentor (*paramparaguru - brgyud pa 'i bla rna). Usually translated as "lineage lama," it is opposite of root lama or direct mentor, and refers to gurus or mentors who were mentors to one's direct or personal mentor. Since the Tibetan Buddhist karmic tradition has largely replaced blood lineages with Dharma lineages, "ancestral" is preferred, moving a bit further in the same direction as "lineage," which itself trans-
values blood lineage to spiritual lineage.
angel (qaka or qakini - mkha 'gro or mkha 'gro rna). These beings can be mundane or transmundane ("buddhine"), male or female, more concrete than the Jungian arche- types animus and anima, but serving in a similar role in Tantric culture.
archetype, or chosen, deity (i$(adevata - yi dam). A divine buddha-form used in Tantric practice to visualize oneself as an embodiment of the understandings and abilities one is cultivating in order to become a buddha oneself to benefit all beings. The sustained visualization of such an embodiment in the creation stage practice aims to develop such a stability of focus that when the perfection stage practitioner reaches into the subtle out-of-body zones in simulation of death and dying states, he or she can arise for the subtle energy plane in the archetypal form of whatever is his or her chosen embodi- ment. Such a buddha-form can be approached as an independent being in some ritual and contemplative and narrative contexts, while it can also be adopted as a contempla- tive role-model, in practices in which the yogrlni identifies with the deity and seeks to become the deity itself. Thus the deity's form becomes an ideal or archetypal structure of the enlightenment desired by the practitioner.
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 643
art (upaya). This is the expression in action of the great compassion of the Buddha and the bodhisauvas. One empathetically aware of the troubles of living beings would. for his or her very survival. devise the most potent and efficacious arts possible to remove those troubles. and the troubles of living beings are removed effectively only when they reach liberation. I prefer '"art. . to the usual '"method. . and '"means. . because it has a stronger connotation of subtlety and skill: also, art is identified with the extreme of power, energy. and efficacy, as symbolized in the vajra (adamantine scepter), and in Tantra it is associated with male qualities, paired with "wisdom," associated with female qualities. This use of '"art" fits with the educational usage "arts and sciences," where the arts include all the humanities, writing, architecture, engineering, medicine, law, various technologies, and so forth, along with the creative arts, disciplines seeking to understand the nature of reality from various angles, which should include wisdom
as well.
avadhOti. The central channel (madhyamana4r - rtsa dbu ma) of the yogic subtle body, running from mid-brow up to crown center then down just in front of spinal column all the way to the base of the genitals then out to the tip of the male or female sexual organ, believed to be choked off in normal persons in five places at the center of the five main neural channel wheels, but opened by adept yogi/nis through perfection stage practices. Often referred to in Tibetan simply as "the dhati. "
beatific. The adjective from "beatitude," used to translate Sanskrit sam bhoga, the term for the bliss body of buddhahood. The evolutionary perfection of buddhahood is said to be experienced in the form of three bodies, of which this body represents the ultimate but subtle subjective enjoyment of being a buddha as a being who has realized perfect union with the infinite freedom of ultimate reality. See "three bodies of the Buddha (triktiya). "
between (antarabhava - bar do). This word is used in at least three senses: its basic colloquial sense of the whole period between death and rebirth, its technical sense in the set ofthe six betweens-life, dream, meditation, death-point, reality, and existence betweens-and in the sense of "phase of a between,. . where the experience of a particular period in one of the six betweens is itself called a between.
between-being (antarabhavr - bar do pa). A being who has passed through death and whose mind, soul, or life-continuum has emerged from the gross body of the lost life, has embodied itself in a subtle energy, "mind-imaged. . body, similar to the simulated embodiment of consciousness in a dream, and experiences the processes in the between of wandering in search of either liberation or an ordinary rebirth.
bliss, great (bliss-void indivisible). Sanskrit sukha means "happiness" as the opposite of duljcha , "suffering," in a range from modest relief and comfort up to physical orgasmic bliss and supreme spiritual bliss. In the Tantric context, the Universalist emphasis on compassion (the will to relieve the suffering of others) transmutes into the implementa- tion of love (the will to provide happiness to others) and so the conscious cultivation of bliss becomes a technical concern. To transmit happiness to others, one must develop one's own happiness to overflowing. Thus, the highest Tantric expression of the non- duality of relative and absolute realities is the term "bliss-void indivisible," where bliss
is the relative, wisdom-generated forms of the buddhaverse and void is the ultimate freedom reality that makes such creativity possible.
644 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
bodhisattva. Sanskrit bodhisattva is composed of bodhi, meaning "enlightenment" (wisdom of selflessness/selfless compassion), and sattva, meaning "being" or "hero/ heroine. " Most simply, it means someone who has dedicated him or herself to do what- ever it takes over countless lifetimes in order to attain perfect enlightenment in order to save all beings from suffering. A being becomes a bodhisattva by conceiving the spirit of enlightenment, through ( 1 ) imagining the possibility of enlightened consciousness, (2) seeing how it alone gives the ability effectively to help others find their happiness, (3) seeing how dedicating all one's lives of efforts toward that goal is the only sensible way to live, and (4) resolving to undertake that universal responsibility oneself. This
transformation from ordinary being to "enlightenment hero/heroine" is formally sealed by the solemn taking of the vow of the bodhisattva. Thus a beginner bodhisattva need not be very advanced in enlightenment, merely firmly dedicated to universal love and compassion. In the modern context, it is important to mention that the messianic bodhisattva vow only makes sense for those who feel convinced that they are going to be around in the life-process for an infinite future in any case, so they might as well undertake the saving of all beings. Such a messianic complex would be insane for those who consider their existence to last only one lifetime; there would never be time
for such a universal saving of beings, and so such a pressure would be pointless.
body isolation. This refers to the first of the five perfection stages, a stage wherein the body becomes isolated from ordinariness of experience, and concretely re-envisioned as a wisdom-perfected body expressing the compassion of all buddhas, using the hundred buddha-clan, five clan, three clan, or one buddha-clan art of homologizing all bodily structures and bodymind functions with divine buddha aesthetic activities. (See the charts of the one hundred buddha clans, beginning p. 637 above. )
channel, neural channel (niit/T - rtsa ba). These are the neural structures of the Tantric yogi/ni's subtle body, which consists of channels, wind-energies (vayu}, and neural drops (hindu). There are five, six, or seven main channel wheels, and 72,000 subtle neural channels linking them together, around a main axis consisting of the central dhnti channel and the right and left rasana and lalana channels.
clan (as in the five buddha-clans) (kula - rigs). This word is often translated as "family," which has the modern connotation of nuclear family, i. e. , parents and children. "Clan" conveys the ancient extended family which includes cousins, uncles, and aunts, and so forth, which is more appropriate for the buddha-kula, which includes a larger number of members. The five clans are the vajra, buddha, jewel, lotus, and evolution clans, respectively fathered by the five Buddhas, Ak? hobhya, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi, mothered by the female buddhas, Sparshavajra, Lochana, Mamakr, Pat;? c;laravasinr, and Tara, and each including a number of male and female bodhisattvas, fierce deities, and adept heroes and heroines.
clear light, transparence (prabhasvara - 'od gsa{). This is the level of the extremely subtle bodymind, the indestructible drop and the state of universal void. It is likened to the gray light before the dawn, when you can see your hand but not the lines in the palm; this follows with the moonlit sky of luminance, the sunlit sky of radiance, and the darklit or unlit light of imminence. Clear light is thus a pure transparency, beyond the duality of light and dark, day and night, when there are no shadows because everything is self-illuminated from within. It also connected to the vajra or diamond nature of the void, the level of reality where the infinite energy of bliss flows into and through the
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 645
structures of life as universal love and compassion. This clear light can never be per- ceived in a dualistic way, since the perceiver is also clear light; it seems to rather be the case that the buddha-mind is overtaken by it in a realization that it has always been it and so surrenders to it without losing anything it was not already. It is of course ulti- mately inexpressible, though it has many names and evocations, this state of universal communion (yuganaddha), in which the duality realizes oneness while enjoying the play of opposites and embracing all that suffers i? its potentiality of bliss.
communion, union (yuganaddha - zung 'jug). The fifth and highest of the five stages of the perfection stage, its final form being buddhahood itself. Used with prefix "com-" (paralleling the yuga - zung) for the standard "union," it indicates that the nondual union of bliss and void, divine and human, absolute and relative, infinite and finite, ultimate and conventional, etc. It still preserves distinctly the pair that is united without collapsing either one into the other. The resonance with the Christian usage is not a problem, perhaps enhances the power of this very sacred concept for Tantra-oriented Universal Vehicle Buddhists, and its possible continued usage in English will add this usage of "communion" to dictionary lists of its meanings. See "five stages. "
conception of the spirit of enlightenment (bodhicittotpada). This can also be rendered by "initiation of. . . " because it means the mental event occurring when a living being, having been exposed to the teaching of the Buddha or of his magical emanations, realizes simultaneously his own level of conditioned ignorance. The living being's habitual stream of consciousness is like sleep compared to that of one who has awakened from ignorance; with initiation, he has the possibility of his own attainment of a higher state of consciousness; and the necessity of attaining it in order to liberate other living beings from their stupefaction. Having realized this possibility, he becomes inspired with the intense ambition to attain, and that is called the "conception of the spirit of enlightenment. " "Spirit" is preferred to "mind" because the mind of enlightenment should rather be the mind of the Buddha; and it is preferred to "thought" because a "thought of enlightenment" can easily be produced without the initiation of any sort of new resolve or awareness.
conceptualization (vikalpa). This brings up another important group of words that has never been treated systematically in translation: vikalpa, parikalpa, samllropa, adhyll- ropa, kalpana, samjiiil, and prapanca. All of these refer to mental functions that tend to superimpose upon reality, either relative or ultimate, a conceptualized reality fabri- cated by the subjective mind. Some translators have tended to lump these together under the rubric "discursive thought," which leads to the misleading notion that all thought is bad, something to be eliminated, and that sheer ''thoughtlessness" is "enlightenment," or whatever higher state is desired. According to Buddhist scholars.
thought in itself is simply a function, and only thought that is attached to its own content over and above the relative object, i. e. , "egoistic" thought, is bad and to be eliminated. Therefore I have chosen a set of words for the seven Skt. terms. respec- tively: "conceptualization," "imagination," "presumption," "exaggeration. " "construc- tion," "conception" or "notion," and "fabrication. " This does not mean that these words are not somewhat interchangeable or that another English word might not be better in certain contexts; it only represents an attempt to achieve consistency with the
original usages.
646 ? Glossary ofUnique Translation Terms
conscious awareness (apramilda). This denotes a type of awareness of the most seemingly insignificant aspects of practical life, an awareness derived as a consequence of the highest realization of the ultimate nature of reality. As it is stated in the Anavatapta-
pariprcchasiilra: "Who realizes voidness, that person becomes consciously aware. " "Ultimate realization," far from obliterating the relative world, brings it into highly specific, albeit dreamlike, focus.
consort, seal (mudra); evolution (karmamudra), wisdom or intuition Uiillnamudrll), and science (vidya). These expressions refer to the partner, either male or female, but more usually female, in a buddha-couple, such as Vairochana and Lochana. Sometimes the father and mother in a buddha-father-mother couple are considered different divine
beings, sometimes only the double manifestation of a single being. The Buddhist belief is that all beings, whatever the superficial sexual identity, are potentially both male and female-each has male and female aspects and energies in his or her being. The empathetic ability to transcend sexual identity-habits is cultivated by Tantric archetype meditation wherein a male will meditate himself as a female archetype buddha, a female will meditate herself as a male archetype buddha, or either will meditate him or
her self as a male and female buddha couple in union.
continuum (tantra - rgyud, rgyun). This is the root word for tantra, standing for the confluence of several continua: the basis continuum of the basis, that of the nature, and that of the fruition. Sometimes, exoterically, it is known as "life-continuum" (sam tina): the energy-continuity of a living being that proceeds from moment to moment in a life and from life to life in an individual's evolutionary progression. To quote Tsong Khapa, quoting in his great commentary the Esoteric Community Further Tantra and Naropa: "Tantra is renowned as 'continuum'; that continuum is of three types: differentiated in terms of the basis (adhara), likewise, nature (prakrti), and non-deprivation (asariz - hllrya). As for their aspects, the nature one is the cause; similarly, the non-deprivation
is the fruition; the basis is called the art. Those three comprise the meaning of 'tantra. ' (GST, xviii. 34--35) The etymological definition of 'tantra' is 'continuum. ' According to Naropa's explanation of the threefold division of Tantra in the verse, 'nature' means the nature of the jewel-like adept; this is the causal Tantra. 'Basis' refers to the art Tantra, the four branches of service and performance of the two stages. The Tantra of 'fruition'-of which no one can deprive you-is the holy communion body of non-
local nirvana, Vajradhara. " (J. R. C. Campbell, "Vajra Hermeneutics" [Ph. D. diss. , Columbia University, 2009], Appendix 1, p. 8. )
creation stage (utpannakrama - bskyed rim). This is the preliminary part of the Unex- celled Yoga Tantra, where the yogi/nT creates a divine environment and a divine self and embodiment, using serenity meditation to focus on the purified forms and critical insight meditation to recognize the voidness of all those visualized forms, thus planting the seed patterns and creating the templates for the subtle and extremely bodymind needed to traverse the ultimate yogas of the perfection stage and actually reach real, magical buddhahood. It therefore does "develop" (rnam par smin pa) the practitioner, but its main function is to begin the creation of the buddha-world along with the buddha embodiment needed to accelerate the time to buddhahood. So, though some use "development stage," I prefer "creation stage. " Nagabodhi in his Stage ofArrangement
creation (sam sklra). See "aggregate. "
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 647 explicitly links the creation of the mandala universe to a mythic. theistic cosmogony
pattern.
death. This is the point of freedom when the subtle mind, indestructible clear light drop, or soul of a particular life loses connection with the embodiment of that life.
It is perhaps beyond consciousness and unconsciousness, though ordinary people transit it unconsciously, never noticing the all-too-rapid (for them) transition from the uncon- scious segment of imminence into clear light and back into imminence. Thus death is understood as 11 pure negation, a perfect zero, 11 timeless moment, a widthless boundary, and is aligned with absolute reality, with the body of truth, with the ultimate clear light. A buddha, an enlightened being, is thus one whose death is an infinite body of ultimate reality, a concrete permanent resting place, which nevertheless not only never obstructs their relative experience of the interconnected realm of beings. it makes it indivisible from freedom and openness and therefore perfectly blissful. Needless to say, such a being is no longer afraid of death.
definitive meaning (nrtartha). This refers to those teachings of the Buddha that are in terms of ultimate reality; it is opposed to those teachings given in terms of relative reality, termed "interpretable meaning," because they require further interpretation before being relied on to indicate the ultimate. Hence definitive meaning relates to voidness, etc. , and no statement concerning the relative world, even by the Buddha, can be taken as definitive.
designation (prajflapti). This occurs in the axiomatic Madhyamika description of all things as existent by virtue of "mere designation" (prajflaptimlitra).
Dharma. One of the Three Jewels, the Jewel of the Buddha's teaching. It can also mean the ultimate reality itself that is taught in the teachings, the path that leads to its realization, the qualities that derive from it, and so forth. In Indian usage prior to the Buddha's time, it tended to mean "religion," "law," "duty," "custom," and so forth, patterns that hold human behavior and thought under control. These "pattern- maintaining" meanings still coexist in Sanskrit and other Buddhist languages with the Buddha's more liberating or "pattern-transcending" meanings, causing considerable confusion for translators in some contexts.
dhoti. See avadhoti.
discourse (satra - mdo ). Though sutra in general means a string of aphorisms meant to be memorized in Indian oral education system, in Buddhism in particular it has come to mean a recorded discourse of the Buddha.
Divine Lord (Bhagavan). "Divine Lord" translates well the title bhagavan because it is the term of greatest respect current in our "sacred" language, as established for the Deity in the Elizabethan version of the B ible. Indeed, the Skt. Bhagavlin was given as a title to the Buddha, although it also served the non-Buddhist Indians as an honorific title of their particular deities. As the Buddha is clearly described in the Siltras as the "Supreme Teacher of Gods and Men," there seems little danger that he may be
confused with any particular deity through the use of this term (as indeed in Buddhist Sotras various deities, creators, protectors, etc. , are shown in their respective roles). The often used "Blessed One" comes from the early translations, and conveys the subliminal suggestion to the nineteenth century reader that the Buddha too is "blessed,"
648 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
i. e. found acceptable in the eyes of the Western "God" - still a looming presence over
the work of introducing Buddhism-even for the atheistic philologist.
drops (hindu - thig le). This word refers to physical, chemical essences (something like the modem notion of neuro-transmitters) that focus awareness within the subtle nervous system. In the subtle body, the channels form the structure, the winds serve as the energies that move things and cause transformations of experience, and the drops serve as the nodes of subjectivity that focus awareness within this realm that opens up when consciousness has been withdrawn from its functions in receiving and coordinating sense-data from the gross senses. These drops are also associated with the genetic material that is the essence of the male and female sexual fluids, and the yogic mastery
of their subtle potentials represents the sublimation of the creative energies that ordinarily build up the suffering life cycle into the reconstruction of the divine realm of the enlightened mandala. Thus, red drops refer to the female genetic essence, carried within the blood, and the white drops refer to the male genetic essence, carried within the semen. This is a difficult and abstruse subject, but this note can orient you to what is meant by this expression.
duality, dualism (dvaya, dvayagraha). "Duality" is largely self-explanatory. To be pointed out here is the connection between the mental habit of dualism and verbalization, insofar as dualism is inherent in the structure of language, in which things are pre- sented in terms of opposites.
emanation body (nirmtlt;? akllya). This refers to the miraculous power of buddhas and bodhisattvas of a certain stage to emanate apparently living beings in order to develop and teach other beings. This power reaches its culmination in the nirmtlt;? aktlya, the "emanation body," which is one of the three bodies of buddhahood and includes all physical forms of all buddhas, including Shiikyamuni, whose sole function as incar- nations is the development and liberation of living beings. See "three bodies of the Buddha (trikllya). "
enlightenment (bodhi). This word requires too much explanation for this glossary because, indeed, the whole of Buddhist literature tries to explain only this. The translation equivalent "awakening" is frequently used, which is perfectly alright as well, though should not be adopted due to some idea that the Buddha's enlightenment is somehow diametrically opposed to the Western "Enlightenment" of Diderot and Voltaire, et al. The dogmatic materialism and even nihilism that accrued to the Western Enlighten- ment is different from Buddha's transcendent realization of the exact and complete nature of reality. However, the Western movement's achievement in breaking away from irrational and unrealistic theories of reality, using reason and experience to distinguish the real from the unreal. its discoveries of many of the workings of macro and micro nature and so on, its elevation of empirical science, its appreciation of the human potential, and so on, these are all part and parcel of the Buddha's enlighten- ment, which preceded the Western one by more than 2000 years. Also, Sanskrit Buddha
is glossed as vibuddha and prabuddha, i. e. , not only "awakening from the sleep of ignorance," but also "expanding the knowledge of reality into omniscience"; so "awakening" may not contain both aspects quite fully.
emptiness (sanyatll). See "voidness. "
energy. See "wind-energy. "
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 649
equalizing wisdom. One of the five wisdoms. this one associated with the buddha Ratnasambhava, the color yellow, the transmutation of pride and miserliness, and the apotheosis of the sensation aggregate.
Esoteric Community. The Guhyasamaja Tantric tradition, in which the subtleties and intricacies of Unexcelled Yoga are particularly well explained and systematically arranged for study and practice, and which is the "Lamp" which illuminates the world, was illuminated more brightly by ChandrakTrti in his Illumination of the Lamp, and was even more brilliantly illuminated by Tsong Khapa in the present work.
evolution, evolutionary. Sanskrit karma and karmika, translated in this way because "action" may be too general and vague. Karma specifically means mental/verbal/ physical action which leads to life-affecting. eventually life-constituting consequences. It is the key concept in the Buddhist theory of biology, the study of how life is consti- tuted. The modem materialistic worldview considers the structures of our present lifetimes to have been caused by the genetic re-embodiment of the subtly encoded experiences of millions of previous representatives of our species through the pro- cesses of biological evolution. The Buddhist worldview considers the structures of our present lifetimes to be caused by the spiritually genetic re-embodiment of our own experiences from millions of previous lifetimes, subtly encoded in a spiritual gene we bring with us, combined with the physical genes we receive from our parents, in a complex process of spiritually directed and physically conditioned biological evolution.
extremely subtle bodymind. This nondual combination of the indestructible drop com- posed of the subtlest wind-energies and the clear light enlightened awareness is the Buddhist soul, that entity or continuum that can be said to progress from life to life, and to mutate out of the suffering life cycle into enlightenment. Note that at this super micro level, the dualities of matter and mind are transcended, and even the duality of micro and macro. See "subtle bodymind. "
Father Tantra (pitlltantra - pha rgyud). This is a class of Unexcelled Yoga Tantras - all of which (in Tsong Khapa's interpretation) are nondual in terms of magic body and clear light-where the emphasis is on the creation of the magic body at the stage of mind isolation through the mind objective and the self-consecration, by the grace of the mentor. See also "Mother Tantra. "
furor, furor-frre (car. uja - gtum mo). This is the physical heat generated by mental concen- tration that focuses deep down upon the subatomic energies within the molecules and atoms of the yogi/nT and taps there the inexhaustible nuclear energies that can be mechanically released in fission or fusion reactions. The yogi/ni carefully channels that fire into the central nervous system to melt the "drops" that embed states of conscious- ness causing them to flow into the neural centers of the channel wheels and generate the subtle bliss consciousness that liberates from entrapment in the conceptually con-
structed world of samsara, consisting of the hopeless duality of self versus the entire universe of other beings, time, and space. The long observed, studied, and verified ability of such yogT/nTs to melt icy sheets in winter, to raise at will their whole body temperature or the temperature of specific parts of their bodies is only a relatively unimportant side-effect of this super subtle energy-tapping through concentration. "Furor" is a good translation since the heat of anger is similar to this subatomic heat energy. Anger and bile are in Buddhist medical fact connected to intelligence and the
? 650 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
dissective power of critical analysis. which is what this concentration requires to break through the coarse levels of reality structure and penetrate the clear light energy of voidness ultimate reality.
gene (gotra - rigs). See spiritual gene.
gnosis (intuition, intuitive wisdom) Unana, llryajfillna). This is nondual, subject-object- dichotomy-transcending knowledge of the nonconceptual and transcendental which is realized by those attaining higher stages.
grace (adhi$thiina). The "supernatural power" with which the Buddhas sustain the bodhi- sattvas in their great efforts on behalf of living beings, which is bestowed as consecra- tion when entering the Tantric mandala realm.
great, or universal, bliss (mahasukha - bde ba chen po). This is the orgasmic ecstasy stabi- lized and not dissipated as experienced in focus on and immersion in universal void- ness, felt not only in ordinary, genitally organized sexual melting in normal, quickly dissipated sexual ecstasy, but felt steadily in every fiber and cell of the body and every neural energy of the mind and leading to the full experience of the void freedom of communion with clear light reality of all buddhas' body of truth: known as bliss-void- indivisible. This bliss is the secret engine of universal compassion also, as it remains with the enlightened being in no matter what circumstance, and spontaneously over- flows to lift suffering beings out of their trap of alienation into the bliss of which they also are made. The art (upaya) of doing that is necessary because the alienated being will only get more bound tight by simply a flood of energy, even if it is really bliss: so the blissed out compassionate being must create an entertainment that will attract the alienated beings according to their inclinations and open their minds to understand their deeper realities.
great, or universal, compassion (mahiikarur:zll). This refers to one of the two central quali- ties of a Buddha or high bodhisattva (see "enlightenment" entry): his feeling born of the wish for all living beings to be free of suffering and to attain the supreme happi- ness. It is important to note that this great compassion has nothing to do with any senti- mental emotion such as that stimulated by such a reflection as "Oh, the poor creatures! How they are suffering! " On the contrary, great compassion is accompanied by the clear awareness that ultimately there are no such things as living beings, suffering, etc. , in reality. Thus it is a sensitivity that does not entertain any dualistic notion of subject and object; indeed, such an unlimited sensitivity might best be termed "empathy. "
great seal. Sanskrit mahllmudrll indicates the same radical and direct approach to ultimate realization. It refers to the bliss-void-indivisible experience in its extreme perfection, where the adept experiences all of reality as her or his partner in inexhaustible blissful communion. It is a terminology based on the embrace of reality as a seal of experience, ultimate reality being the supreme seal of universal bliss wisdom's complete insight.
high resolve, or messianic ambition (adhyasaya). This is a stage in the conception or initiation of the spirit of enlightenment. It follows upon the positive thought, or aspira- tion to attain it, wherein the bodhisattva becomes filled with a lofty determination that he himself should attain enlightenment, that it is the only thing to do to solve his own problems as well as those of all living beings. This high resolve reaches its most intense
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 65 1 purity as a messianic drive when the bodhisattva simultaneously attains the path of
insight and the first bodhisattva-stage. the stage ofjoy.
identity and identitylessness (svabhava, nilJvabh avatc7). Svabhava is usually rendered as "self-nature," sometimes as "own-being," both of which have a certain literal validity. However, neither artificial term has any evocative power for the reader who has no familiarity with the original, and a term must be found that the reader can immediately relate to his own world to fulfill the function the original word had in its world. In our world of identities (national, racial, religious, personal, sexual, etc. ), "identity" is a part of our makeup; thus, when we are taught the ultimate absence of identity of all persons and things. it is easy to "identify" what is supposedly absent and hence to try to under-
stand what that entails.
imagination yoga (*kalpandyoga - rtog pa'i rna/ 'byor). This is the category of the creation stage and lower Tantric practices where visualization is a primary focus.
imminence. This is the deepest state of the subtle mind, just next to the extremely subtle mind of clear light wisdom. It is divided into two halves. an initial moment when there is a consciousness of intense darkness, and a second moment of total unconsciousness.
It is called "imminence" (upalabdhi
reality clear light is about to occur in consciousness, where it is imminent. Its syno- nyms are "neuter," "the perfect," "consciousness," "delusion," "equal reality," (these in common with Sotra usages), and "HOM," "luminance-imminence," "great void," "misknowledge," and "medium passion. "
-
nyer thob) because it is the state where ultimate
indestructible drop (ak$arabindu - mi shigspa'i thig /e). This is the extremely subtle bodymind of a sentient being, more or less qualifying as the "soul" urva) continuum that takes rebirth life after life and eventually becomes self-aware and expands into being the truth bodymind of all buddhas. During the life of a being, from conception to death, it resides in the central chamber of the heart center channel wheel. "Death" is defined as the moment when the sixfold neural knot around that central chamber un- ravels and the indestructible drop departs into the clear light of universal void. This is not subjectively perceived by an ordinary being who, after a time of unconsciousness, arises in the subtle dreamlike body of the between state. In the case of a bodhisattva attaining buddhahood (either after three incalculable eons of bodhisattva deeds) or in the context of the unexcelled yoga Tantra perfection stage called mind objective (perhaps both), the unraveling of the heart knot is done consciously and carefully. The yogi/ni remains consciously aware during the descent through the three luminance gnosis intuitions into the clear light extremely subtle place where the duality of micro and macro is also transcended. Thus there is complete freedom to remain ever blissful in diamond-like clear light transparence infinite truth body communion, which free remaining in such supreme bliss does not at all preclude spontaneous and effortless emanations in magic bodies manifesting whatsoever educates whomsoever about their
own reality of bliss-freedom indivisible. This indestructible drop, or Buddhist soul continuum is part of the esoteric tradition, although hinted at in the Individual Vehicle refusal to state whether there is any ort of self after death or after nirvana, and more graphically in the Universal Vehicle buddha-nature teaching, in order to help na"ive beings not project onto it their unrealistic habitual views and subliminal habits of a coarse reality personality- and identity-bearing immortal, unchanging, fixated, inde- pendent self or soul.
652 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
lndividuaJ Vehicle (hrnayana - theg dman). This is the Universal Vehicle (Skt. Maha- yilna) term for the foundation form of Buddhism, what I also call "Individualist," or "Monastic" Buddhism. The term was originally derogatory, referring to the narrow- minded refusal of early monastic Buddhists to accept the possibility of the Buddha also having taught a Universal, Messianic form of Buddhism. In recent eras of Universalist civilizations, it is descriptive and not derogatory, as the foundationaJ aspect of monastic Buddhism is respectfully accepted. Thus, when it is used in Tibet nowadays, it means a vehicle suitable for transporting the individual to freedom and enlightenment. In the modem, pluralistic context, "Individual Vehicle," while descriptively accurate, need
not be taken as derogatory, since for all beings to be liberated from suffering, they must achieve that happy condition one individual being at a time.
individuating wisdom. One of the five wisdoms, transformation of conceptions, the trans- mutation of lust, associated with the Buddha Amitabha, the Lotus Buddha-clan, the color red, and the awareness of the distinctions between things, their particularity and individuality.
initiation (abhi? ekha - dbang bskur ba). Often translated by "empowerment," it means literaJiy "anointment," as in the coronation of a king or queen, the ritual acknowledge- ment of a being's assumption of a special transformation, blessing, authority, and responsibility. In Unexcelled Yoga Tantra there are four main initiations, the vase, secret, wisdom-intuition, and word initiations, that empower body, speech, mind, and the integration of aJI three to learn, practice, and realize all levels of the Tantric path.
instinct (vasana - bag chags; prakrti - rang bzhin). The subconscious tendencies and predilections of the psychosomatic conglomerate, the two Sanskrit and Tibetan terms in brackets reflecting usages in exoteric and esoteric contexts, respectively. This most obvious English word is seldom used in this context because of the hesitancy of Buddhist translators to employ materialist, "scientific" terminology.
perception (samjnll). See "aggregate. "
interpretable meaning (neyilrtha). See "definitive meaning. "
Kitlachakra Tantra - The Time Machine Tantra. This is one of the most important and elaborate of the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras, with a number of distinctive features. It is one of the favorites of the Dalai Lamas, and the Namgyal Monastery of the Potala Palace in Lhasa (presently at the Thekchen Choling in Dharamsala) is the monastery most renowned for its expertise in the arts associated with this Tantra. Its vision of buddhahood and the buddhaverse is of its being an evolutionary time machine, an omnipresent force of wisdom and compassion in close contact with planetary beings throughout all the intricacies of their history. It is a unique vision of time as universal compassion, offering beings a theater in which to evolve toward freedom, rather than seeing time mainly as a destroyer and bringer of death by impermanence.
lama. This means guru or spirituaJ teacher in Tibetan, and represents a highly honored pro- fession, since the lama is the indispensable doorway to the practice and performance of Tantra. I sometimes use the Tibetan word, and translate it as "mentor" when it seems best to translate it.
Ialani. The left channel of the subtle yogic neural system, white in color, running next to the central channel, called Tqa in Hindu Tantra. See "avadhDti. "
? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 653
liberative art (upaya). See "art. "
life (samsilra - 'khor ba). This translation seems natural, instead of either the awkward "transmigration" or the vague "the round," because it conveys well the sense of the transformations of living things; it also connotes to all modem readers the whole span and scope of the world of living things. "Life" can translate three other Tibetan words: tshe, which means "lifespan" or "life-time"; skye ba, which literally means "birth"; and
srog, which means "vitality" or "vital principle. "
luminance (atoka - snang ba). The most surface state of the subtle mind, it is that which corresponds to the desire-oriented instinctual natures, and has the experiential sign of moonlit autumn sky during the death dissolutions and birth arisals. The other two states of the subtle mind, the sun-lit radiance, and the dark-lit imminence, are also sometimes called "luminances," and sometimes "luminance wisdoms. " Its synonyms are said to be "wisdom," "the relative," "mind," "anger," "the void side reality" (these in common with Sntra teachings), and "OM," "luminance," "void," "mind," amd "dispassion. "
magic body (mayadeha, mayakaya - sgyu Ius). A subtle body attained through the bless- ing of the mentor at the self-consecration stage of the perfection stage, and created, according to Tsong Khapa, "in order to bring to fruition one's former vows, to abandon the nihilistic tendency gotten from the teaching of the god Maheshvara (Shiva), to accomplish beings' aims until the end of the eon, and to abandon the cessation truth accepted as enlightenment by the disciples" (Tib. 78a). This subtle body seems to be a kind of death-birth-between embodiment, resembling a conscious dream embodiment, and holds (is made of) the extremely subtle mind of great bliss clear light. It is needed to compress eons of altruistic bodhisattva lifetimes into the single life of the perfection stage adept, in order to realize the matter body of a buddha that manifests the merit and compassion side of the truth body of a buddha.
mandala (maf)t/ala - dkyil 'khor). There are many types of mandala, which means "realm that protects the essence," the essence of life in the Buddha's view being the universal bliss energy of the clear light of void reality. There are habitat and inhabitant mandalas, which are, respectively. the environment of palace and gardens and death grounds around and firewalls surrounding, and the divine beings within the habitat. Then within that on a more subtle level, there are ( 1 ) the spirit of enlightenment mandala, within which one receives the secret empowerment of red and white spirits of enlightenment from the mentor father-mother; (2) the dharma-source or vagina mandala within which one receives the wisdom intuition empowerment with the consort; and (3) the word mandala, wherein one receives the great fourth empowerment, the word empowerment.
mantra (mantra - sngags). Literally meaning "saving (-tar or -tra) the mind (manas)," a mantra is a creative sound considered expressive of the deepest essence of things and understandings, so that its repetition can evoke in a formulaic or even magical way a state of enlightenment or positive energy. Some mantras resemble sentences, and express some wish, vision or affirmation, and others are just a single syllable or two, containing the germ of a deity, realm, or state of concentration.
materialism (vastugraha, bhavagraha - dngos por 'dzin pa). This is the grasping at things that conceives of material objects as possessing intrinsically real substantiality.
6? ? Glos. tary of Uniqu? Translation T?
Adamantine, diamond (see also "vajra"}. The Sanskrit vajra means "thunderbolt," "diamond," "adamantine," and so forth, various objects connoting immutability and unbreakability. In Vedic India it was the weapon of the tribal father-god, lndra, a thunderbolt that he threw down from the heavens to break the citadels of the enemy. The Buddhists took this primal symbol of the supreme power of the universe and made it a symbol of universal love and compassion, in order to affirm their vision that love is the strong force in the universe. Thus "vajra" is used in names of Buddha deities to indicate that they are in touch through wisdom with the realm of ultimate reality and that they express the natural universal compassion.
adept, great. "Adept" is used to translate the Sanskrit siddha, referring to a practitioner of Tantra who has attained buddhahood in his or her ordinary body, having gone beyond life, death, and the between, yet remaining in association with his or her previous gross body in order to relate liberatingly with contemporary beings.
addiction (kll! 'Sa - nyon mongs). This word has been translated "passion," and more recently "affliction," neither wrong. Its etymology comes from the verb root klis- to "torment," "twist," so it is definitely something painful. Lust, hatred. delusion, envy. pride, fanaticism-all emotions that are painful to experience-cause painful outcomes through unskillful interactions with others. Passion is an intense emotion that can how- ever be exalting and beautiful, or at least it has that connotation (granted the passion of Christ was definitely painful). Affliction is basically the same as suffering, not as much a cause of suffering. An addiction is a habitual behavior that seems to benefit one's state ofbeing and so seduces the addict, but actually causes suffering to the addict and those around him or her. One can be addicted to lust, addicted to hate, addicted to confusion, to a fanatical belief, to pride or envy or avarice. Those addictions then inevitably cause suffering and affliction.
aggregate (skandha). The five-rapa, vedana, samjna, samskara, and vijnana-have such a particular technical sense that some may wish to leave them untranslated. Nevertheless, it seems preferable to give a translation-in spite of the drawbacks of each possible term-in order to convey the same sense of a useful schema of the psychophysical complex. ( 1 ) For rapa, "matter" is preferred to "form" because it more concretely connotes the physical and gross. (2) For vedana, "sensation" is preferred to "feelings," as not so inclusive of emotions. (3} For samjiiil, "perception" is preferable to "conception," as itself meaning conceptually determined experience. (4} For samskilra, which covers a number of mental functions as well as anomalous forces, "creation" or "function" gives the general idea. (5} And "consciousness" is so well established for vijnana (although what we normally think of as consciousness is more
like samjiiil, i. e. , conceptual and notional, and vijnana is rather the "pure awareness" prior to concepts} as to be left unchallenged.
A? hobhya (Buddha). One of the five archetypal transcendent buddhas, Lord of the Vajra Buddha-clan, he represents the ultimate reality perfection wisdom, the transmutation of the poison of hatred, the color blue, and the aggregate of consciousness.
641
642 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
alienated individual (prthagjana - so sor skye bo). Often translated "common person," this term in Buddhism refers to a person who is cognitively the opposite of a "noble" (arya) person. A "noble" person is defined as one who has attained the vision path (darsanamilrga) and thus has had an initial nonconceptual experience of selflessness, becoming "noble" by realizing the equality of others' perspective to his or her own. The opposite of this kind of noble person is one who is enclosed within a sense of exclusive and absolute self as different from and opposed to others, and who thus does not consider others' perspective from any visceral level. Such an automatically self- centered person is necessarily alienated from the "otherness" of the world as a whole and hence is very aptly described as "alienated. " Etymologically both prthag and so
sor refer to separateness.
all-accomplishing wisdom. This is one of the five wisdoms, resulting from the transmuta- tion of envy, associated with the emerald and the color green, and with the Archetype Buddha Amoghasiddhi.
AmitAbha. One of the five archetypal transcendent buddhas, Lord of the Lotus Buddha- clan. He is associated with the western direction and the buddhaverse Sukhavati. He represents the individuating wisdom, the transmutation of the poison of lust, the color red, and the aggregate of perception. His buddha consort is PaQQaravAsini.
Amoghasiddhi. One of the five archetypal transcendent buddhas, Lord of the Karma Buddha-clan, associated with the northern direction. He represents the all-accomplishing wisdom, the transmutation of the poison of envy, the color green, and the aggregate of creations. His buddha consort is TarA, sometimes called Samayatara.
ancestral mentor (*paramparaguru - brgyud pa 'i bla rna). Usually translated as "lineage lama," it is opposite of root lama or direct mentor, and refers to gurus or mentors who were mentors to one's direct or personal mentor. Since the Tibetan Buddhist karmic tradition has largely replaced blood lineages with Dharma lineages, "ancestral" is preferred, moving a bit further in the same direction as "lineage," which itself trans-
values blood lineage to spiritual lineage.
angel (qaka or qakini - mkha 'gro or mkha 'gro rna). These beings can be mundane or transmundane ("buddhine"), male or female, more concrete than the Jungian arche- types animus and anima, but serving in a similar role in Tantric culture.
archetype, or chosen, deity (i$(adevata - yi dam). A divine buddha-form used in Tantric practice to visualize oneself as an embodiment of the understandings and abilities one is cultivating in order to become a buddha oneself to benefit all beings. The sustained visualization of such an embodiment in the creation stage practice aims to develop such a stability of focus that when the perfection stage practitioner reaches into the subtle out-of-body zones in simulation of death and dying states, he or she can arise for the subtle energy plane in the archetypal form of whatever is his or her chosen embodi- ment. Such a buddha-form can be approached as an independent being in some ritual and contemplative and narrative contexts, while it can also be adopted as a contempla- tive role-model, in practices in which the yogrlni identifies with the deity and seeks to become the deity itself. Thus the deity's form becomes an ideal or archetypal structure of the enlightenment desired by the practitioner.
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 643
art (upaya). This is the expression in action of the great compassion of the Buddha and the bodhisauvas. One empathetically aware of the troubles of living beings would. for his or her very survival. devise the most potent and efficacious arts possible to remove those troubles. and the troubles of living beings are removed effectively only when they reach liberation. I prefer '"art. . to the usual '"method. . and '"means. . because it has a stronger connotation of subtlety and skill: also, art is identified with the extreme of power, energy. and efficacy, as symbolized in the vajra (adamantine scepter), and in Tantra it is associated with male qualities, paired with "wisdom," associated with female qualities. This use of '"art" fits with the educational usage "arts and sciences," where the arts include all the humanities, writing, architecture, engineering, medicine, law, various technologies, and so forth, along with the creative arts, disciplines seeking to understand the nature of reality from various angles, which should include wisdom
as well.
avadhOti. The central channel (madhyamana4r - rtsa dbu ma) of the yogic subtle body, running from mid-brow up to crown center then down just in front of spinal column all the way to the base of the genitals then out to the tip of the male or female sexual organ, believed to be choked off in normal persons in five places at the center of the five main neural channel wheels, but opened by adept yogi/nis through perfection stage practices. Often referred to in Tibetan simply as "the dhati. "
beatific. The adjective from "beatitude," used to translate Sanskrit sam bhoga, the term for the bliss body of buddhahood. The evolutionary perfection of buddhahood is said to be experienced in the form of three bodies, of which this body represents the ultimate but subtle subjective enjoyment of being a buddha as a being who has realized perfect union with the infinite freedom of ultimate reality. See "three bodies of the Buddha (triktiya). "
between (antarabhava - bar do). This word is used in at least three senses: its basic colloquial sense of the whole period between death and rebirth, its technical sense in the set ofthe six betweens-life, dream, meditation, death-point, reality, and existence betweens-and in the sense of "phase of a between,. . where the experience of a particular period in one of the six betweens is itself called a between.
between-being (antarabhavr - bar do pa). A being who has passed through death and whose mind, soul, or life-continuum has emerged from the gross body of the lost life, has embodied itself in a subtle energy, "mind-imaged. . body, similar to the simulated embodiment of consciousness in a dream, and experiences the processes in the between of wandering in search of either liberation or an ordinary rebirth.
bliss, great (bliss-void indivisible). Sanskrit sukha means "happiness" as the opposite of duljcha , "suffering," in a range from modest relief and comfort up to physical orgasmic bliss and supreme spiritual bliss. In the Tantric context, the Universalist emphasis on compassion (the will to relieve the suffering of others) transmutes into the implementa- tion of love (the will to provide happiness to others) and so the conscious cultivation of bliss becomes a technical concern. To transmit happiness to others, one must develop one's own happiness to overflowing. Thus, the highest Tantric expression of the non- duality of relative and absolute realities is the term "bliss-void indivisible," where bliss
is the relative, wisdom-generated forms of the buddhaverse and void is the ultimate freedom reality that makes such creativity possible.
644 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
bodhisattva. Sanskrit bodhisattva is composed of bodhi, meaning "enlightenment" (wisdom of selflessness/selfless compassion), and sattva, meaning "being" or "hero/ heroine. " Most simply, it means someone who has dedicated him or herself to do what- ever it takes over countless lifetimes in order to attain perfect enlightenment in order to save all beings from suffering. A being becomes a bodhisattva by conceiving the spirit of enlightenment, through ( 1 ) imagining the possibility of enlightened consciousness, (2) seeing how it alone gives the ability effectively to help others find their happiness, (3) seeing how dedicating all one's lives of efforts toward that goal is the only sensible way to live, and (4) resolving to undertake that universal responsibility oneself. This
transformation from ordinary being to "enlightenment hero/heroine" is formally sealed by the solemn taking of the vow of the bodhisattva. Thus a beginner bodhisattva need not be very advanced in enlightenment, merely firmly dedicated to universal love and compassion. In the modern context, it is important to mention that the messianic bodhisattva vow only makes sense for those who feel convinced that they are going to be around in the life-process for an infinite future in any case, so they might as well undertake the saving of all beings. Such a messianic complex would be insane for those who consider their existence to last only one lifetime; there would never be time
for such a universal saving of beings, and so such a pressure would be pointless.
body isolation. This refers to the first of the five perfection stages, a stage wherein the body becomes isolated from ordinariness of experience, and concretely re-envisioned as a wisdom-perfected body expressing the compassion of all buddhas, using the hundred buddha-clan, five clan, three clan, or one buddha-clan art of homologizing all bodily structures and bodymind functions with divine buddha aesthetic activities. (See the charts of the one hundred buddha clans, beginning p. 637 above. )
channel, neural channel (niit/T - rtsa ba). These are the neural structures of the Tantric yogi/ni's subtle body, which consists of channels, wind-energies (vayu}, and neural drops (hindu). There are five, six, or seven main channel wheels, and 72,000 subtle neural channels linking them together, around a main axis consisting of the central dhnti channel and the right and left rasana and lalana channels.
clan (as in the five buddha-clans) (kula - rigs). This word is often translated as "family," which has the modern connotation of nuclear family, i. e. , parents and children. "Clan" conveys the ancient extended family which includes cousins, uncles, and aunts, and so forth, which is more appropriate for the buddha-kula, which includes a larger number of members. The five clans are the vajra, buddha, jewel, lotus, and evolution clans, respectively fathered by the five Buddhas, Ak? hobhya, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi, mothered by the female buddhas, Sparshavajra, Lochana, Mamakr, Pat;? c;laravasinr, and Tara, and each including a number of male and female bodhisattvas, fierce deities, and adept heroes and heroines.
clear light, transparence (prabhasvara - 'od gsa{). This is the level of the extremely subtle bodymind, the indestructible drop and the state of universal void. It is likened to the gray light before the dawn, when you can see your hand but not the lines in the palm; this follows with the moonlit sky of luminance, the sunlit sky of radiance, and the darklit or unlit light of imminence. Clear light is thus a pure transparency, beyond the duality of light and dark, day and night, when there are no shadows because everything is self-illuminated from within. It also connected to the vajra or diamond nature of the void, the level of reality where the infinite energy of bliss flows into and through the
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 645
structures of life as universal love and compassion. This clear light can never be per- ceived in a dualistic way, since the perceiver is also clear light; it seems to rather be the case that the buddha-mind is overtaken by it in a realization that it has always been it and so surrenders to it without losing anything it was not already. It is of course ulti- mately inexpressible, though it has many names and evocations, this state of universal communion (yuganaddha), in which the duality realizes oneness while enjoying the play of opposites and embracing all that suffers i? its potentiality of bliss.
communion, union (yuganaddha - zung 'jug). The fifth and highest of the five stages of the perfection stage, its final form being buddhahood itself. Used with prefix "com-" (paralleling the yuga - zung) for the standard "union," it indicates that the nondual union of bliss and void, divine and human, absolute and relative, infinite and finite, ultimate and conventional, etc. It still preserves distinctly the pair that is united without collapsing either one into the other. The resonance with the Christian usage is not a problem, perhaps enhances the power of this very sacred concept for Tantra-oriented Universal Vehicle Buddhists, and its possible continued usage in English will add this usage of "communion" to dictionary lists of its meanings. See "five stages. "
conception of the spirit of enlightenment (bodhicittotpada). This can also be rendered by "initiation of. . . " because it means the mental event occurring when a living being, having been exposed to the teaching of the Buddha or of his magical emanations, realizes simultaneously his own level of conditioned ignorance. The living being's habitual stream of consciousness is like sleep compared to that of one who has awakened from ignorance; with initiation, he has the possibility of his own attainment of a higher state of consciousness; and the necessity of attaining it in order to liberate other living beings from their stupefaction. Having realized this possibility, he becomes inspired with the intense ambition to attain, and that is called the "conception of the spirit of enlightenment. " "Spirit" is preferred to "mind" because the mind of enlightenment should rather be the mind of the Buddha; and it is preferred to "thought" because a "thought of enlightenment" can easily be produced without the initiation of any sort of new resolve or awareness.
conceptualization (vikalpa). This brings up another important group of words that has never been treated systematically in translation: vikalpa, parikalpa, samllropa, adhyll- ropa, kalpana, samjiiil, and prapanca. All of these refer to mental functions that tend to superimpose upon reality, either relative or ultimate, a conceptualized reality fabri- cated by the subjective mind. Some translators have tended to lump these together under the rubric "discursive thought," which leads to the misleading notion that all thought is bad, something to be eliminated, and that sheer ''thoughtlessness" is "enlightenment," or whatever higher state is desired. According to Buddhist scholars.
thought in itself is simply a function, and only thought that is attached to its own content over and above the relative object, i. e. , "egoistic" thought, is bad and to be eliminated. Therefore I have chosen a set of words for the seven Skt. terms. respec- tively: "conceptualization," "imagination," "presumption," "exaggeration. " "construc- tion," "conception" or "notion," and "fabrication. " This does not mean that these words are not somewhat interchangeable or that another English word might not be better in certain contexts; it only represents an attempt to achieve consistency with the
original usages.
646 ? Glossary ofUnique Translation Terms
conscious awareness (apramilda). This denotes a type of awareness of the most seemingly insignificant aspects of practical life, an awareness derived as a consequence of the highest realization of the ultimate nature of reality. As it is stated in the Anavatapta-
pariprcchasiilra: "Who realizes voidness, that person becomes consciously aware. " "Ultimate realization," far from obliterating the relative world, brings it into highly specific, albeit dreamlike, focus.
consort, seal (mudra); evolution (karmamudra), wisdom or intuition Uiillnamudrll), and science (vidya). These expressions refer to the partner, either male or female, but more usually female, in a buddha-couple, such as Vairochana and Lochana. Sometimes the father and mother in a buddha-father-mother couple are considered different divine
beings, sometimes only the double manifestation of a single being. The Buddhist belief is that all beings, whatever the superficial sexual identity, are potentially both male and female-each has male and female aspects and energies in his or her being. The empathetic ability to transcend sexual identity-habits is cultivated by Tantric archetype meditation wherein a male will meditate himself as a female archetype buddha, a female will meditate herself as a male archetype buddha, or either will meditate him or
her self as a male and female buddha couple in union.
continuum (tantra - rgyud, rgyun). This is the root word for tantra, standing for the confluence of several continua: the basis continuum of the basis, that of the nature, and that of the fruition. Sometimes, exoterically, it is known as "life-continuum" (sam tina): the energy-continuity of a living being that proceeds from moment to moment in a life and from life to life in an individual's evolutionary progression. To quote Tsong Khapa, quoting in his great commentary the Esoteric Community Further Tantra and Naropa: "Tantra is renowned as 'continuum'; that continuum is of three types: differentiated in terms of the basis (adhara), likewise, nature (prakrti), and non-deprivation (asariz - hllrya). As for their aspects, the nature one is the cause; similarly, the non-deprivation
is the fruition; the basis is called the art. Those three comprise the meaning of 'tantra. ' (GST, xviii. 34--35) The etymological definition of 'tantra' is 'continuum. ' According to Naropa's explanation of the threefold division of Tantra in the verse, 'nature' means the nature of the jewel-like adept; this is the causal Tantra. 'Basis' refers to the art Tantra, the four branches of service and performance of the two stages. The Tantra of 'fruition'-of which no one can deprive you-is the holy communion body of non-
local nirvana, Vajradhara. " (J. R. C. Campbell, "Vajra Hermeneutics" [Ph. D. diss. , Columbia University, 2009], Appendix 1, p. 8. )
creation stage (utpannakrama - bskyed rim). This is the preliminary part of the Unex- celled Yoga Tantra, where the yogi/nT creates a divine environment and a divine self and embodiment, using serenity meditation to focus on the purified forms and critical insight meditation to recognize the voidness of all those visualized forms, thus planting the seed patterns and creating the templates for the subtle and extremely bodymind needed to traverse the ultimate yogas of the perfection stage and actually reach real, magical buddhahood. It therefore does "develop" (rnam par smin pa) the practitioner, but its main function is to begin the creation of the buddha-world along with the buddha embodiment needed to accelerate the time to buddhahood. So, though some use "development stage," I prefer "creation stage. " Nagabodhi in his Stage ofArrangement
creation (sam sklra). See "aggregate. "
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 647 explicitly links the creation of the mandala universe to a mythic. theistic cosmogony
pattern.
death. This is the point of freedom when the subtle mind, indestructible clear light drop, or soul of a particular life loses connection with the embodiment of that life.
It is perhaps beyond consciousness and unconsciousness, though ordinary people transit it unconsciously, never noticing the all-too-rapid (for them) transition from the uncon- scious segment of imminence into clear light and back into imminence. Thus death is understood as 11 pure negation, a perfect zero, 11 timeless moment, a widthless boundary, and is aligned with absolute reality, with the body of truth, with the ultimate clear light. A buddha, an enlightened being, is thus one whose death is an infinite body of ultimate reality, a concrete permanent resting place, which nevertheless not only never obstructs their relative experience of the interconnected realm of beings. it makes it indivisible from freedom and openness and therefore perfectly blissful. Needless to say, such a being is no longer afraid of death.
definitive meaning (nrtartha). This refers to those teachings of the Buddha that are in terms of ultimate reality; it is opposed to those teachings given in terms of relative reality, termed "interpretable meaning," because they require further interpretation before being relied on to indicate the ultimate. Hence definitive meaning relates to voidness, etc. , and no statement concerning the relative world, even by the Buddha, can be taken as definitive.
designation (prajflapti). This occurs in the axiomatic Madhyamika description of all things as existent by virtue of "mere designation" (prajflaptimlitra).
Dharma. One of the Three Jewels, the Jewel of the Buddha's teaching. It can also mean the ultimate reality itself that is taught in the teachings, the path that leads to its realization, the qualities that derive from it, and so forth. In Indian usage prior to the Buddha's time, it tended to mean "religion," "law," "duty," "custom," and so forth, patterns that hold human behavior and thought under control. These "pattern- maintaining" meanings still coexist in Sanskrit and other Buddhist languages with the Buddha's more liberating or "pattern-transcending" meanings, causing considerable confusion for translators in some contexts.
dhoti. See avadhoti.
discourse (satra - mdo ). Though sutra in general means a string of aphorisms meant to be memorized in Indian oral education system, in Buddhism in particular it has come to mean a recorded discourse of the Buddha.
Divine Lord (Bhagavan). "Divine Lord" translates well the title bhagavan because it is the term of greatest respect current in our "sacred" language, as established for the Deity in the Elizabethan version of the B ible. Indeed, the Skt. Bhagavlin was given as a title to the Buddha, although it also served the non-Buddhist Indians as an honorific title of their particular deities. As the Buddha is clearly described in the Siltras as the "Supreme Teacher of Gods and Men," there seems little danger that he may be
confused with any particular deity through the use of this term (as indeed in Buddhist Sotras various deities, creators, protectors, etc. , are shown in their respective roles). The often used "Blessed One" comes from the early translations, and conveys the subliminal suggestion to the nineteenth century reader that the Buddha too is "blessed,"
648 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
i. e. found acceptable in the eyes of the Western "God" - still a looming presence over
the work of introducing Buddhism-even for the atheistic philologist.
drops (hindu - thig le). This word refers to physical, chemical essences (something like the modem notion of neuro-transmitters) that focus awareness within the subtle nervous system. In the subtle body, the channels form the structure, the winds serve as the energies that move things and cause transformations of experience, and the drops serve as the nodes of subjectivity that focus awareness within this realm that opens up when consciousness has been withdrawn from its functions in receiving and coordinating sense-data from the gross senses. These drops are also associated with the genetic material that is the essence of the male and female sexual fluids, and the yogic mastery
of their subtle potentials represents the sublimation of the creative energies that ordinarily build up the suffering life cycle into the reconstruction of the divine realm of the enlightened mandala. Thus, red drops refer to the female genetic essence, carried within the blood, and the white drops refer to the male genetic essence, carried within the semen. This is a difficult and abstruse subject, but this note can orient you to what is meant by this expression.
duality, dualism (dvaya, dvayagraha). "Duality" is largely self-explanatory. To be pointed out here is the connection between the mental habit of dualism and verbalization, insofar as dualism is inherent in the structure of language, in which things are pre- sented in terms of opposites.
emanation body (nirmtlt;? akllya). This refers to the miraculous power of buddhas and bodhisattvas of a certain stage to emanate apparently living beings in order to develop and teach other beings. This power reaches its culmination in the nirmtlt;? aktlya, the "emanation body," which is one of the three bodies of buddhahood and includes all physical forms of all buddhas, including Shiikyamuni, whose sole function as incar- nations is the development and liberation of living beings. See "three bodies of the Buddha (trikllya). "
enlightenment (bodhi). This word requires too much explanation for this glossary because, indeed, the whole of Buddhist literature tries to explain only this. The translation equivalent "awakening" is frequently used, which is perfectly alright as well, though should not be adopted due to some idea that the Buddha's enlightenment is somehow diametrically opposed to the Western "Enlightenment" of Diderot and Voltaire, et al. The dogmatic materialism and even nihilism that accrued to the Western Enlighten- ment is different from Buddha's transcendent realization of the exact and complete nature of reality. However, the Western movement's achievement in breaking away from irrational and unrealistic theories of reality, using reason and experience to distinguish the real from the unreal. its discoveries of many of the workings of macro and micro nature and so on, its elevation of empirical science, its appreciation of the human potential, and so on, these are all part and parcel of the Buddha's enlighten- ment, which preceded the Western one by more than 2000 years. Also, Sanskrit Buddha
is glossed as vibuddha and prabuddha, i. e. , not only "awakening from the sleep of ignorance," but also "expanding the knowledge of reality into omniscience"; so "awakening" may not contain both aspects quite fully.
emptiness (sanyatll). See "voidness. "
energy. See "wind-energy. "
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 649
equalizing wisdom. One of the five wisdoms. this one associated with the buddha Ratnasambhava, the color yellow, the transmutation of pride and miserliness, and the apotheosis of the sensation aggregate.
Esoteric Community. The Guhyasamaja Tantric tradition, in which the subtleties and intricacies of Unexcelled Yoga are particularly well explained and systematically arranged for study and practice, and which is the "Lamp" which illuminates the world, was illuminated more brightly by ChandrakTrti in his Illumination of the Lamp, and was even more brilliantly illuminated by Tsong Khapa in the present work.
evolution, evolutionary. Sanskrit karma and karmika, translated in this way because "action" may be too general and vague. Karma specifically means mental/verbal/ physical action which leads to life-affecting. eventually life-constituting consequences. It is the key concept in the Buddhist theory of biology, the study of how life is consti- tuted. The modem materialistic worldview considers the structures of our present lifetimes to have been caused by the genetic re-embodiment of the subtly encoded experiences of millions of previous representatives of our species through the pro- cesses of biological evolution. The Buddhist worldview considers the structures of our present lifetimes to be caused by the spiritually genetic re-embodiment of our own experiences from millions of previous lifetimes, subtly encoded in a spiritual gene we bring with us, combined with the physical genes we receive from our parents, in a complex process of spiritually directed and physically conditioned biological evolution.
extremely subtle bodymind. This nondual combination of the indestructible drop com- posed of the subtlest wind-energies and the clear light enlightened awareness is the Buddhist soul, that entity or continuum that can be said to progress from life to life, and to mutate out of the suffering life cycle into enlightenment. Note that at this super micro level, the dualities of matter and mind are transcended, and even the duality of micro and macro. See "subtle bodymind. "
Father Tantra (pitlltantra - pha rgyud). This is a class of Unexcelled Yoga Tantras - all of which (in Tsong Khapa's interpretation) are nondual in terms of magic body and clear light-where the emphasis is on the creation of the magic body at the stage of mind isolation through the mind objective and the self-consecration, by the grace of the mentor. See also "Mother Tantra. "
furor, furor-frre (car. uja - gtum mo). This is the physical heat generated by mental concen- tration that focuses deep down upon the subatomic energies within the molecules and atoms of the yogi/nT and taps there the inexhaustible nuclear energies that can be mechanically released in fission or fusion reactions. The yogi/ni carefully channels that fire into the central nervous system to melt the "drops" that embed states of conscious- ness causing them to flow into the neural centers of the channel wheels and generate the subtle bliss consciousness that liberates from entrapment in the conceptually con-
structed world of samsara, consisting of the hopeless duality of self versus the entire universe of other beings, time, and space. The long observed, studied, and verified ability of such yogT/nTs to melt icy sheets in winter, to raise at will their whole body temperature or the temperature of specific parts of their bodies is only a relatively unimportant side-effect of this super subtle energy-tapping through concentration. "Furor" is a good translation since the heat of anger is similar to this subatomic heat energy. Anger and bile are in Buddhist medical fact connected to intelligence and the
? 650 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
dissective power of critical analysis. which is what this concentration requires to break through the coarse levels of reality structure and penetrate the clear light energy of voidness ultimate reality.
gene (gotra - rigs). See spiritual gene.
gnosis (intuition, intuitive wisdom) Unana, llryajfillna). This is nondual, subject-object- dichotomy-transcending knowledge of the nonconceptual and transcendental which is realized by those attaining higher stages.
grace (adhi$thiina). The "supernatural power" with which the Buddhas sustain the bodhi- sattvas in their great efforts on behalf of living beings, which is bestowed as consecra- tion when entering the Tantric mandala realm.
great, or universal, bliss (mahasukha - bde ba chen po). This is the orgasmic ecstasy stabi- lized and not dissipated as experienced in focus on and immersion in universal void- ness, felt not only in ordinary, genitally organized sexual melting in normal, quickly dissipated sexual ecstasy, but felt steadily in every fiber and cell of the body and every neural energy of the mind and leading to the full experience of the void freedom of communion with clear light reality of all buddhas' body of truth: known as bliss-void- indivisible. This bliss is the secret engine of universal compassion also, as it remains with the enlightened being in no matter what circumstance, and spontaneously over- flows to lift suffering beings out of their trap of alienation into the bliss of which they also are made. The art (upaya) of doing that is necessary because the alienated being will only get more bound tight by simply a flood of energy, even if it is really bliss: so the blissed out compassionate being must create an entertainment that will attract the alienated beings according to their inclinations and open their minds to understand their deeper realities.
great, or universal, compassion (mahiikarur:zll). This refers to one of the two central quali- ties of a Buddha or high bodhisattva (see "enlightenment" entry): his feeling born of the wish for all living beings to be free of suffering and to attain the supreme happi- ness. It is important to note that this great compassion has nothing to do with any senti- mental emotion such as that stimulated by such a reflection as "Oh, the poor creatures! How they are suffering! " On the contrary, great compassion is accompanied by the clear awareness that ultimately there are no such things as living beings, suffering, etc. , in reality. Thus it is a sensitivity that does not entertain any dualistic notion of subject and object; indeed, such an unlimited sensitivity might best be termed "empathy. "
great seal. Sanskrit mahllmudrll indicates the same radical and direct approach to ultimate realization. It refers to the bliss-void-indivisible experience in its extreme perfection, where the adept experiences all of reality as her or his partner in inexhaustible blissful communion. It is a terminology based on the embrace of reality as a seal of experience, ultimate reality being the supreme seal of universal bliss wisdom's complete insight.
high resolve, or messianic ambition (adhyasaya). This is a stage in the conception or initiation of the spirit of enlightenment. It follows upon the positive thought, or aspira- tion to attain it, wherein the bodhisattva becomes filled with a lofty determination that he himself should attain enlightenment, that it is the only thing to do to solve his own problems as well as those of all living beings. This high resolve reaches its most intense
Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 65 1 purity as a messianic drive when the bodhisattva simultaneously attains the path of
insight and the first bodhisattva-stage. the stage ofjoy.
identity and identitylessness (svabhava, nilJvabh avatc7). Svabhava is usually rendered as "self-nature," sometimes as "own-being," both of which have a certain literal validity. However, neither artificial term has any evocative power for the reader who has no familiarity with the original, and a term must be found that the reader can immediately relate to his own world to fulfill the function the original word had in its world. In our world of identities (national, racial, religious, personal, sexual, etc. ), "identity" is a part of our makeup; thus, when we are taught the ultimate absence of identity of all persons and things. it is easy to "identify" what is supposedly absent and hence to try to under-
stand what that entails.
imagination yoga (*kalpandyoga - rtog pa'i rna/ 'byor). This is the category of the creation stage and lower Tantric practices where visualization is a primary focus.
imminence. This is the deepest state of the subtle mind, just next to the extremely subtle mind of clear light wisdom. It is divided into two halves. an initial moment when there is a consciousness of intense darkness, and a second moment of total unconsciousness.
It is called "imminence" (upalabdhi
reality clear light is about to occur in consciousness, where it is imminent. Its syno- nyms are "neuter," "the perfect," "consciousness," "delusion," "equal reality," (these in common with Sotra usages), and "HOM," "luminance-imminence," "great void," "misknowledge," and "medium passion. "
-
nyer thob) because it is the state where ultimate
indestructible drop (ak$arabindu - mi shigspa'i thig /e). This is the extremely subtle bodymind of a sentient being, more or less qualifying as the "soul" urva) continuum that takes rebirth life after life and eventually becomes self-aware and expands into being the truth bodymind of all buddhas. During the life of a being, from conception to death, it resides in the central chamber of the heart center channel wheel. "Death" is defined as the moment when the sixfold neural knot around that central chamber un- ravels and the indestructible drop departs into the clear light of universal void. This is not subjectively perceived by an ordinary being who, after a time of unconsciousness, arises in the subtle dreamlike body of the between state. In the case of a bodhisattva attaining buddhahood (either after three incalculable eons of bodhisattva deeds) or in the context of the unexcelled yoga Tantra perfection stage called mind objective (perhaps both), the unraveling of the heart knot is done consciously and carefully. The yogi/ni remains consciously aware during the descent through the three luminance gnosis intuitions into the clear light extremely subtle place where the duality of micro and macro is also transcended. Thus there is complete freedom to remain ever blissful in diamond-like clear light transparence infinite truth body communion, which free remaining in such supreme bliss does not at all preclude spontaneous and effortless emanations in magic bodies manifesting whatsoever educates whomsoever about their
own reality of bliss-freedom indivisible. This indestructible drop, or Buddhist soul continuum is part of the esoteric tradition, although hinted at in the Individual Vehicle refusal to state whether there is any ort of self after death or after nirvana, and more graphically in the Universal Vehicle buddha-nature teaching, in order to help na"ive beings not project onto it their unrealistic habitual views and subliminal habits of a coarse reality personality- and identity-bearing immortal, unchanging, fixated, inde- pendent self or soul.
652 ? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms
lndividuaJ Vehicle (hrnayana - theg dman). This is the Universal Vehicle (Skt. Maha- yilna) term for the foundation form of Buddhism, what I also call "Individualist," or "Monastic" Buddhism. The term was originally derogatory, referring to the narrow- minded refusal of early monastic Buddhists to accept the possibility of the Buddha also having taught a Universal, Messianic form of Buddhism. In recent eras of Universalist civilizations, it is descriptive and not derogatory, as the foundationaJ aspect of monastic Buddhism is respectfully accepted. Thus, when it is used in Tibet nowadays, it means a vehicle suitable for transporting the individual to freedom and enlightenment. In the modem, pluralistic context, "Individual Vehicle," while descriptively accurate, need
not be taken as derogatory, since for all beings to be liberated from suffering, they must achieve that happy condition one individual being at a time.
individuating wisdom. One of the five wisdoms, transformation of conceptions, the trans- mutation of lust, associated with the Buddha Amitabha, the Lotus Buddha-clan, the color red, and the awareness of the distinctions between things, their particularity and individuality.
initiation (abhi? ekha - dbang bskur ba). Often translated by "empowerment," it means literaJiy "anointment," as in the coronation of a king or queen, the ritual acknowledge- ment of a being's assumption of a special transformation, blessing, authority, and responsibility. In Unexcelled Yoga Tantra there are four main initiations, the vase, secret, wisdom-intuition, and word initiations, that empower body, speech, mind, and the integration of aJI three to learn, practice, and realize all levels of the Tantric path.
instinct (vasana - bag chags; prakrti - rang bzhin). The subconscious tendencies and predilections of the psychosomatic conglomerate, the two Sanskrit and Tibetan terms in brackets reflecting usages in exoteric and esoteric contexts, respectively. This most obvious English word is seldom used in this context because of the hesitancy of Buddhist translators to employ materialist, "scientific" terminology.
perception (samjnll). See "aggregate. "
interpretable meaning (neyilrtha). See "definitive meaning. "
Kitlachakra Tantra - The Time Machine Tantra. This is one of the most important and elaborate of the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras, with a number of distinctive features. It is one of the favorites of the Dalai Lamas, and the Namgyal Monastery of the Potala Palace in Lhasa (presently at the Thekchen Choling in Dharamsala) is the monastery most renowned for its expertise in the arts associated with this Tantra. Its vision of buddhahood and the buddhaverse is of its being an evolutionary time machine, an omnipresent force of wisdom and compassion in close contact with planetary beings throughout all the intricacies of their history. It is a unique vision of time as universal compassion, offering beings a theater in which to evolve toward freedom, rather than seeing time mainly as a destroyer and bringer of death by impermanence.
lama. This means guru or spirituaJ teacher in Tibetan, and represents a highly honored pro- fession, since the lama is the indispensable doorway to the practice and performance of Tantra. I sometimes use the Tibetan word, and translate it as "mentor" when it seems best to translate it.
Ialani. The left channel of the subtle yogic neural system, white in color, running next to the central channel, called Tqa in Hindu Tantra. See "avadhDti. "
? Glossary of Unique Translation Terms ? 653
liberative art (upaya). See "art. "
life (samsilra - 'khor ba). This translation seems natural, instead of either the awkward "transmigration" or the vague "the round," because it conveys well the sense of the transformations of living things; it also connotes to all modem readers the whole span and scope of the world of living things. "Life" can translate three other Tibetan words: tshe, which means "lifespan" or "life-time"; skye ba, which literally means "birth"; and
srog, which means "vitality" or "vital principle. "
luminance (atoka - snang ba). The most surface state of the subtle mind, it is that which corresponds to the desire-oriented instinctual natures, and has the experiential sign of moonlit autumn sky during the death dissolutions and birth arisals. The other two states of the subtle mind, the sun-lit radiance, and the dark-lit imminence, are also sometimes called "luminances," and sometimes "luminance wisdoms. " Its synonyms are said to be "wisdom," "the relative," "mind," "anger," "the void side reality" (these in common with Sntra teachings), and "OM," "luminance," "void," "mind," amd "dispassion. "
magic body (mayadeha, mayakaya - sgyu Ius). A subtle body attained through the bless- ing of the mentor at the self-consecration stage of the perfection stage, and created, according to Tsong Khapa, "in order to bring to fruition one's former vows, to abandon the nihilistic tendency gotten from the teaching of the god Maheshvara (Shiva), to accomplish beings' aims until the end of the eon, and to abandon the cessation truth accepted as enlightenment by the disciples" (Tib. 78a). This subtle body seems to be a kind of death-birth-between embodiment, resembling a conscious dream embodiment, and holds (is made of) the extremely subtle mind of great bliss clear light. It is needed to compress eons of altruistic bodhisattva lifetimes into the single life of the perfection stage adept, in order to realize the matter body of a buddha that manifests the merit and compassion side of the truth body of a buddha.
mandala (maf)t/ala - dkyil 'khor). There are many types of mandala, which means "realm that protects the essence," the essence of life in the Buddha's view being the universal bliss energy of the clear light of void reality. There are habitat and inhabitant mandalas, which are, respectively. the environment of palace and gardens and death grounds around and firewalls surrounding, and the divine beings within the habitat. Then within that on a more subtle level, there are ( 1 ) the spirit of enlightenment mandala, within which one receives the secret empowerment of red and white spirits of enlightenment from the mentor father-mother; (2) the dharma-source or vagina mandala within which one receives the wisdom intuition empowerment with the consort; and (3) the word mandala, wherein one receives the great fourth empowerment, the word empowerment.
mantra (mantra - sngags). Literally meaning "saving (-tar or -tra) the mind (manas)," a mantra is a creative sound considered expressive of the deepest essence of things and understandings, so that its repetition can evoke in a formulaic or even magical way a state of enlightenment or positive energy. Some mantras resemble sentences, and express some wish, vision or affirmation, and others are just a single syllable or two, containing the germ of a deity, realm, or state of concentration.
materialism (vastugraha, bhavagraha - dngos por 'dzin pa). This is the grasping at things that conceives of material objects as possessing intrinsically real substantiality.
6? ? Glos. tary of Uniqu? Translation T?
