Glossary

An abhisheka is a consecration or anointment ritual. In Vajrayana Buddhism, abhisheka rituals are performed to initiate practitioners into the practices focused on a certain deity. These ceremonies often involve anointing the heads of practitioners with water, meditative visualizations, making vows, chanting mantras and being introduced into a mandala. Hindu priests perform abhisheka rituals on statues, either to invite the deity to reside there, or to wash the statue and worship the deity that inhabits it. Historically, abhishekas were also performed to coronate Hindu kings.

Achala is a wrathful deity in Vajrayana Buddhism, sometimes associated with the bodhisattva Manjushri, or the buddhas Vairochana or Akshobhya. This deity was particularly popular in the Tangut kingdom and in the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Adibuddha is the “dharma body” or true, primordial form of all buddhas, the original, empty nature of reality itself. In the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, this is often understood to be a specific buddha called Samantabhadra.

An aimag is a traditional social-geographical grouping in Mongolian regions, traditionally led by a khan. In modern states like Mongolia or the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, an aimag is the equivalent of a prefecture or district.

In Mahayana cosmology, the Akanishtha Heaven is the highest realm of the phenomenal world or samsara. Although beings reborn in the Akanishtha Heaven are not yet fully enlightened, the positive conditions of this realm allow them to rapidly attain release from birth and death. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Akanishtha Heaven is sometimes understood as the Pure Realm of the buddha Vairocana.

Akshobhya is a buddha in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. In the Five Buddha Family system of Vajrayana Buddhism, Akshobhya is the Buddha of the Vajra family, colored blue, and associated with the direction East.

Amitabha is an important buddha in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Amitabha is often said to dwell in Sukhavati, meaning “endowed with bliss,” a pure land in the distant west where humans hope to be reborn. In the Five Buddha Family system of Vajrayana Buddhism, Amitabha is the Buddha of the Lotus family, colored red, and associated with the direction West.

In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Amitayus is an important long-life deity. Often depicted holding a vase of long-life, Amitayus is frequently paired together with White Tara and Ushnishavijaya as the Three Long Life Deities. Red in color and adorned with jewel ornaments and a crown, he is the sambhogakaya form of Amitabha, who in monk’s robes is the nirmanakaya form.

Amoghapasha is a bodhisattva in Vajrayana Buddhism. The “lasso” in his name refers to his ability to catch sentient beings and lift them out of suffering. Amoghapasha is closely associated with the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and in some contexts can be understood as a form of the same deity.

An icon is a picture of a sacred figure, while an “aniconic” image does not picture such figure, a god or deity, but instead represents them through symbols. For example, the Buddha can be represented by a wheel, a tree, an empty throne, a parasol, or footprints.

Appliqué is a technique of sewing patches of cloth, often silk or felt, onto a base to create a design or image. Used to make thangkas, carpets, and clothing, this technique allows for the creation of large-scale images, often hung from monastery walls or displayed on mountainsides as part of communal festivals and rituals. While the image may be designed by a Buddhist master, women are often involved in the creation of appliqués.

In early Buddhism, arhats were those who had followed the path taught by the Buddha, and achieved release from the cycle of birth and death, or samsara. In later Mahayana traditions in China, the arhats were understood as a set group of disciples to the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, and an artistic tradition arose that depicted them as wizened sages with exaggerated features drawn from Daoist immortal imagery. Inspired by these Chinese paintings, Tibetan artists began to depict these figures in a genre that often carried with it aspects of Chinese artistic and material culture. In the Tibetan tradition they appear as a group of sixteen, representing the monastic ideal, and are invoked in rituals of confession and mending vows.

Avadana is a genre of narrative Buddhist literature found in the Mahayana sutras, and one category of Buddhist teachings. Together with the jataka stories that narrate the past lives of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, these stories typically demonstrate the workings of karma, or cause and effect, and how the protagonists’ past actions lead to their present experiences. Most Avadanas center on persons other than the Buddha, but they can relate to the Buddha as well.

Avalokiteshvara, an embodiment of compassion, is a powerful bodhisattva, worshiped all across the Buddhist world. Avalokiteshvara is part of the very origin myth of the Tibetan people, and seen as the protector deity of Tibet. Many Tibetans believe that the emperor Songtsen Gampo, the Karmapas, and Dalai Lamas are all emanations of Avalokiteshvara. A special Avalokiteshvara image, the Pakpa Lokeshvara, is enshrined at the Potala Palace in Lhasa. In India and Tibet, Avalokiteshvara is understood as male, while in East Asian Buddhism, Avalokiteshvara is often thought of as female, and is known by the Chinese name Guanyin. Avalokiteshvara is recognizable in the Tibetan tradition by the lotus he holds, the image of Buddha Amitabha in his crown, and antelope skin over his shoulder.

The Avatamsaka Sutra is an important sutra in Mahayana Buddhism, known for its philosophical exploration of infinite, mutually reflecting universes. The final section of this very long sutra is called the Gandavyuha. This section tells the story of a pilgrim named Sudhana who visits fifty-three teachers on his journey to enlightenment, which became exemplary of Buddhist pilgrims’ religious quest.

In Hinduism, an avatar is a form of a deity. A single god may have many avatars. For instance, Hindus consider Rama, Krishna, and the Buddha to be avatars of the god Vishnu. A similar concept in Buddhism is that of an emanation or nirmanakaya.

In Buddhism, awakening or enlightenment refers to a state of understanding the nature of reality, which Buddha Shakyamuni attained while meditating under the Bodhi Tree at Vajrasana or Bodhgaya. It is called awakening because a person reaching such understanding “wakes up” from an illusion—perceiving everything and oneself as real, unchanging, and existing independently of everything else. See also nirvana.