Glossary

Nagas are powerful serpent spirits that live in lakes, rivers, and seas. In Indian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, nagas are believed to control rain, and therefore agricultural prosperity. Nagas can be helpful or harmful, and there are many stories and rituals involving them. Indian Buddhist tales about nagas have been assimilated to similar beings in indigenous Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongol mythologies, including Tibetan serpent-spirits (Tib. “lu”) and Chinese dragons (Ch. “long”). A female naga is called a “nagini,” while the kings of the nagas are called “nagarajas.”

The Newars are traditional inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. The Newars speak a Tibeto-Burman language (Newari) and practice both Hinduism and Buddhism. The Newars are inheritors of one of the oldest and most sophisticated urban civilizations of the Himalayas, and Newar arts and artisans have been celebrated all across the Himalayan world since the Licchavi period.

The Newar People of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal retain the unbroken traditions of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism south of the Himalayas, preserving many ritual practices and Sanskrit-language texts that have been lost elsewhere. Celibate monasticism is no longer practiced among the Newars, but instead Buddhist ritualists are divided into two castes. One is the Shakyas, temple-priests who maintain ancient urban monasteries (Newar: bahas, bahis) as places of worship. The other is the Vajracharyas, tantric specialists who perform rituals at communal festivals and important life events. The Svayambhu Stupa is the most important ritual center for Newar Buddhists and the center of the Kathmandu Mandala. Today many Newars also practice Theravada and Tibetan Buddhism.

Niladanda is a deity in Vajrayana Buddhism, sometimes one of a set of the “Ten Wrathful Ones.” Niladanda is usually depicted as a blue wrathful figure with a staff, sometimes in union with a consort.

Nirvana is said to be a state beyond the cycle of reincarnation (Skt. samsara). It is defined as the end of suffering of being born, living, dying, and being reborn, and the ultimate goal for Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha achieved this state meditating beneath the bodhi tree, and his followers aim to advance to that state by gradually clearing out their karmic limitations. Different Buddhist traditions variously characterize nirvana, indicting several levels of awakening, from achieving peace to utterly transcending both the suffering of samsara and the peace of nirvana.

Nyen are a type of local spirit in indigenous Tibetan mythology. Nyen are typically fierce and dangerous, but can be tamed by Buddhist or Bonpo masters, and might help those who worship them. Many Tibetan mountain gods are understood to be nyen.

The Nyingma are a tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma trace their lineages back to the first introduction of Buddhism into the Himalayas in the time of the Tibetan Empire, most importantly to the legendary Indian yogin Padmasambhava. The Nyingma are known for their “treasure revealers” (Tib. terton), lamas who travel the Himalayas, revealing ritual texts, objects, and hidden lands thought to be concealed within the Tibetan landscape. The Nyingma are also famed for the Dzogchen teachings, a set of meditative practices focused on the bardo states, and the nature of the mind as pure, self-arising consciousness. Unlike other Buddhist traditions, many Nyingma practitioners are not celibate and can marry, raise families, and grant Vajrayana initiations and teachings to their children.