Glossary

The Eight Great Events are eight scenes from the life of Buddha Shakyamuni that became a standard part of his iconography in India and Nepal. The eight events are:

1. The birth of the Buddha
2. His awakening (enlightenment)
3. His first sermon
4. A monkey offers him honey
5. He tames a wild elephant
6. Descending from the Heaven of the Thirty-Gods
7. Defeating heretical sects by miraculous displays
8. The Buddha’s death (Skt. parinirvana)

The Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava are eight names of the legendary tantric master and yogin, who became known when he defeated the hostile spirits of Tibet while converting the land and its gods to Buddhism. The names became standardized and assumed iconographic forms now known as the Eight Manifestations of the Guru. Different texts give varied lists of these manifestations.

The Eight Medicine Buddhas are an iconographic set of seven buddhas plus Shakyamuni, who are said to preside over healing and medicine in Tibetan Buddhism.

Along with the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path is a core part of the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni. The Eightfold Path is often symbolized by an eight-spoked wheel or chakra. The eight spokes represent: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right efforts, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Emptiness is a core concept of the Madhyamaka philosophical tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, most famously formulated by the Indian philosopher Nagarjuna (ca. second to third century CE) and elaborated by Chandrakirti (c. seventh century CE). Emptiness (Skt. shunyata) refers to the absence of inherent existence, meaning that although all things, including the self, exist insofar as we perceive them, they are constantly changing and dependent on causes and conditions, and thus empty of inherent existence. Buddhas are said to perceive both of these relative and absolute truths at once. Other Buddhist traditions, for instance Dzogchen and the Jonang, interpret emptiness as a primordial state of radiant awareness underlying the phenomenal world.    

The Encampment tradition is an artistic tradition associated with the court of the Karmapas, who traveled in large monastic tent encampments. The painting tradition was established by the artist Namkha Tashi (active ca. 1568–1599). No extant painting by the hand of Namkha Tashi has yet been reliably identified, but religious masters of the Karma Kagyu are said to have urged Namkha Tashi to follow Indian Buddhist models for the figures and Chinese painting for coloring and shading, naming models from the Yuan and Ming courts. The style was revived by Situ Panchen (1700–1774). Sometimes called the “New Encampment” style, these paintings are characterized by open airy landscapes of soft blue and green. The Encampment tradition also included a lesser-known sculptural tradition, founded by the artist Karma Sidrel (d. 1591/92).

Engraving is the process of incising lines, patterns, or writing into the surface of an object, such as a metal or wooden sculpture, or natural surface, such a stone.