Glossary

In Buddhism and Hinduism, sadhana is any yogic or meditative practice that leads towards enlightenment. Sadhana also refers to a particular type of text that gives practical instructions for how the practitioner should go about performing the rituals and visualizations, including detailed descriptions of the deities’ iconography and their mandala.

Sakya is the name of a monastery and of a major tradition of Tibetan Buddhism that originated there during the Later Diffusion of Buddhism. Sakya Monastery was the seat of power during Sakya-Mongol rule in Tibet (1260–1350s), founded on the priest-patron relationship. Notable Sakya figures include Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), who played an instrumental role in establishing Tibetan relations with the Mongols; Drogon Chogyel Pakpa (1234-1280), who served as Qubilai Khan’s imperial preceptor and invented the Pakpa Script; and Buton (1290–1364), who compiled the Tibetan Canon. The Sakya are particularly known for their Lamdre teachings. In the 1350s, Pakmodru replaced the Sakya political prominence.

Samantabhadra is an important bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. Usually represented mounted on an elephant, Samantabhadra is often depicted as an attendant to Shakyamuni, together with Manjushri. In the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Samantabhadra is considered to be the Adibuddha, symbolizing the primordial state of awakening or enlightenment.

In Buddhism and Hinduism, samsara is the phenomenal world in which we live, and the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. In Buddhism, samsara refers to the six realms of existence in which beings can be born according to their karma: as hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demi-gods (Skt. asura), and gods. The central goal of Buddhism is to escape the suffering of samsara by achieving nirvana, a state beyond this cycle of rebirths.

In Buddhism, the sangha refers to the community of religious practitioners. Buddhists consider the sangha one of the Three Jewels of their religion, along with the Buddha and the Dharma. There are many different branches of the sangha in different Buddhist traditions, including monks in monasteries, nuns in nunneries, and lay-practitioners. Traditionally, most Buddhist monks take vows of chastity, non-violence, and so on at ordination and live studying philosophy, meditating, and carrying out rituals on behalf of the community. In Newar Buddhism, the sangha is formed by household monks and their families. Boys from Vajracharya and Shakya families go through the symbolic rituals of ordination, becoming monks for four days.

Sanskrit is an ancient language used in India. An early member of the Indo-European language family, Sanskrit was the language of the ancient Vedas in the second millennium BCE. Over millennia, Sanskrit ceased to be used as a spoken language, but it continued as the main literary language of India until the modern era. The Mahayana and Vajrayana canons were originally written in Sanskrit. Today, Sanskrit continues to be studied as a liturgical language among Hindus and Newari Buddhists, and Sanskrit-language mantra and dharani are chanted in rituals all across the Buddhist world.

The Sasanian dynasty was a state that ruled in Persia (modern Iran, Iraq, and neighboring countries) from 224 to 651 CE. While the Sasanian state religion was Zoroastrianism, the empire also contained major Christian, Jewish, Manichaean, Buddhist, and Hindu populations. In 637, the Sasanians were decisively defeated by the Arab Muslims, paving the way for the conversion of most of Central Asia to Islam. Sasanian traders and envoys (including Sogdians) reached from India to the Mediterranean to China, and their culture and arts continued to be a major influence on Central Asian civilization even after the empire fell. In Tibetan, Inner Asian, and Chinese contexts, Sasanian metalwork, such as silver and gold vessels, and silks with distinctive intricately woven patterns were prized and often emulated.

In Buddhism and Hinduism, certain sacred objects are said to be “self-arisen,” that is, appearing out of the landscape spontaneously or by the power of the deities. For instance, at the center of the Kathmandu Mandala is the Svayambhu (Skt. “Self-Arisen”) Stupa, said to have appeared at that place eons before humans came there and adorned it. Other “self-arisen” objects can be stones that look like deities or vajras, mountains in the shape of auspicious symbols, etc. In Tibet, self-arisen objects are also a special class of relics, such as images that appear after the cremation of an accomplished religious master.

The Shah dynasty was a family that ruled Nepal from 1769 to 2008. Originating from the Nepali-speaking Gorkha Kingdom in what is now west-central Nepal, in the seventeenth century the Shah kings unified the area of present-day Nepal, defeating the Malla-dynasty Newar kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley in 1768–9. Ruling in Kathmandu as Hindu monarchs, the Shah dynasty fought several wars against the British and Qing empires. The monarchy was abolished in 2008, and Nepal was declared a republic.

In Hinduism, Shakti is the divine female power, considered to be the active, creating agent in the power of the gods. Goddesses like Mahadevi, Kali, Durga, and Parvati are all considered to be aspects of this fundamental force. The traditions that worship these goddesses are called “Shaktism,” and a devotee is called a “Shakta.”

In Newar Buddhism, the Shakya are a hereditary caste descended from Buddhist monks. The name originates from the term Shakya-bikhshu, “Monks of [The Buddha] Shakyamuni.” Shakyas dwell in and manage the former monasteries (Newar: baha, bahi) in the Kathmandu Valley, and some are known metalworkers and makers of religious images.

According to the Kalachakra Tantra, Shambhala is a sacred mythical land in the north where Buddhist kings rule. At the end of our eon, these kings are prophesied to ride out from their mountain-ringed kingdom to destroy enemies of the Buddhist Dharma. In Tibetan and Inner Asian contexts, these enemies are often understood to be Muslim, viewed as the destroyers of Buddhism in India, but the Shambhala myth has often adapted to contemporary crises, and have been reinterpreted to any threat to Buddhism, or the state, including British forces in the Boxer Rebellion, or the Communists. Many individuals and states in history, including Mongol khans, the Russian tsars, and even the emperor of Japan have been identified as the savior-kings described in these prophecies.

Shiva is a major deity in Hinduism. Aspects of Shiva’s worship arguably date to pre-Vedic and Vedic times. Shiva is often depicted as an ashy-skinned ascetic (Skt. siddha) seated in meditation, with dreadlocks, a trident, and a garland of snakes. Shiva can also be depicted with his wife Parvati, or with one leg elegantly raised as the universe-ending “Lord of the Dance” (Skt. Nataraja). Shiva is often worshiped as “the destroyer” in a trinity with Brahma (“the creator”) and Vishnu (“the preserver”). Hindu traditions that worship Shiva are called “Shaivites.” Shaivite traditions included groups of antinomian meditators who dwelled in charnel grounds, and were important in the early development of tantra.

“Silk Roads” is a term broadly used to describe the long-distance trade routes across Central Asia that connected the Indian Subcontinent with East Asia and the Mediterranean world. These trade routes were highly important in transmitting both art and ideas across the Asian continent, including the Buddhist religion. There were many “silk roads”—some crossed the deserts of Central Asia, other maritime routes also connected Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South, Southeast, and East Asia.

Sitatapatra is a deity in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. In Himalayan art, Sitatapatra is usually depicted as a white-faced goddess with a thousand arms and heads. The worship of Sitatapatra is associated with particular protective dharani incantations, and is associated with protection, curing diseases, and removing obstacles (to a better rebirth, etc.)

In Mahayana Buddhism, our present age is “fortunate” because a Buddha has appeared in it. The Sixteen Bodhisattvas of the Fortunate eon are a specific group of bodhisattvas of our era, who often appear in the mandalas of the Yoga Tantras.

Socialist realism was an artistic movement practiced during the twentieth century in communist countries, especially China and the Soviet Union. Socialist realism idealistically portrays the lives of working people, often as propaganda to inspire the masses for the state’s economic and social campaigns. Most socialist realism derived from the European tradition of oil painting, but some images used traditional Asian visual forms and conventions, including Tibetan thangka painting and Chinese woodblock prints.

The Sogdians were a historic Central Asian people who originated in the region of present-day western Tajikistan and surrounding areas of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The Sogdians spoke a language related to Persian and were major players in the medieval Central Asian caravan trade, forming crucial contacts between Persia, China, and Tibet. They were important conduits of artistic traditions and material culture, including Sasanian metalwork and Central Asian silk weaving. After the Arab conquest of their homeland in the eighth century, the Sogdians mostly disappeared from history, although the Sogdian language is still spoken by a few thousand people in the mountains of Tajikistan.

The Song dynasty was a state that ruled in China from 960 to 1279 CE, with its capitals at modern Kaifeng and then Hangzhou. While militarily unsuccessful against their northern and western neighbors (the Tangut Xixia, the Khitan Liao, the Jurchen Jin, and finally the Mongol Yuan), the Song period is remembered as one of the great ages of Chinese art and intellectual life, when Chinese Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, and associated painting, printing, and silk weaving traditions reached their greatest sophistication. Although the Song had limited direct contact with the Himalayan world in its own time, the art of the Song period would be influential for centuries afterwards .

Sthapits are a caste among the Newar people of Kathmandu. Historically practicing Newar Buddhism, the Sthapits are known as architects, woodworkers, and craftsmen.

Stupas are monuments that initially contained cremated remains of Buddha Shakyamuni or important monks, his disciples, and subsequently other material and symbolic relics associated with the Buddha’s body, teaching, and enlightened mind. As representations of the Buddha’s presence in the world, stupas with their contents—texts, relics, tsatsas—continue to be important objects of Buddhist worship in their diverse forms of domed structures, multistoried pagodas, and portable sculptures. The original form of stupas was an earthen dome-shaped mound containing the remains in reliquary vessels or urns deposited within the innermost core. The dome would often be successively enlarged and surrounded by a path for a walk around in a clockwise direction and veneration (circumambulation)

In Mahayana Buddhism, Sukhavati is the paradisical realm of Buddha Amitabha, associated with the cardinal west direction. Many Buddhist lay people hope to be reborn in Sukhavati, from which enlightenment is easy to attain. These practices focused on Sukhavati and Amitabha, called “Pure Land” traditions, are very important in Chinese Buddhism and other East Asian traditions, and also exist in Tibetan Buddhism.

Sutras are written down words spoken by the Buddha Shakyamuni, narrated by his disciples. Sutra texts comprise the foundation of the textual canon of all Buddhist traditions. Sutras generally begin with the words, “Thus have I heard,” and continue to describe the place, time, and context in which the Buddha gave the teaching. Important Mahayana sutras include the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Prajnaparamita Sutras, as well as many others. Other important types of Buddhist text are avadanas, dharanis, as well as tantras.

The swastika is an ancient Eurasian symbol, found in rock carvings since prehistoric times. In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Bon, the swastika is a common and auspicious decorative design, symbolizing the motions of the sun, the wheel of reincarnation, and the eternal nature of the teachings. In Tibetan, it is yungdrung (“Eternal”), the principal religious symbol of the Bon religion, and the organized system of Bon that emerged in dialogue with Buddhism is generally referred to as Yungdrung Bon. The strongly negative association of this design in Western countries is due to its appropriation by the twentieth-century Nazis as a symbol of their racial theories.