Glossary

In Hinduism, yantras are geometric designs thought to have divine power. Some yantras are the symbols of deities, while others represent astrological concepts. Yantras can be drawn as part of devotional practice, placed on altars for their auspicious and obstacle-repelling properties, or used as aids for meditation. A similar concept in Vajrayana Buddhism is a mandala.

Yasodhara was the wife of Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Buddha Shakyamuni. Married to the future Buddha at the age of sixteen, Yasodhara was the mother of his son, Rahula. The Buddha abandoned Yasodhara when he left to pursue a life of meditation and asceticism.

In Hinduism, a yatra is a pilgrimage to a particular shrine or sacred place. Many important temples and pithas have a set date for a yearly mass-pilgrimage.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, a yidam is a deity or buddha with whom the meditator connects as part of a deity yoga practice. Practitioners take tantric vows (Tib. damtsik) as part of abhisheka initiations, followed by oral instruction from a master, which permit them to perform meditations in which they visualize themselves becoming the deity described in a particular tantra, and gaining that deity’s enlightened or wrathful powers.

Called the “Image of the Great Ultimate” (Ch. taijitu), the yin-yang symbol shows two interlocking colors (usually black and white) that swirl together to form a circle. In Daoism and more cosmological forms of Confucianism, this symbol represents the interlocked forces of yang (the sun, light, male, active) and yin (the moon, dark, female, passive) that form the basic complementary pattern of the universe. The yin-yang symbol is often found at the center of Chinese talismans and other protective imagery.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, deity yoga is a meditative visualization practice centered on a deity. Practitioners imagine themselves as a deity (Tib. yidam), or visualize the deity in front of themselves, while contemplating and internalizing the deity’s enlightened qualities of mind and powers. As a result, the practitioners develop a special connection with the deity and attain the deity’s awakened state. Specific instructions on the practice of deity yoga are laid out in tantras, and in texts called sadhana.

The Yoga Tantras are the third of the fourfold division of tantras used in the Tibetan later-diffusion traditions. The main texts of the Yoga Tantras are the Tattvasamgraha Tantra and the Vajrashekara Tantra. The Yoga Tantras teach about the Five Buddha Families of the Vajra-Realm, and are focused on the Buddha Vairochana. Unlike most of the Highest Yoga Tantras, the Yoga Tantras were known in Tang and Song Dynasty China, and are still practiced today in Japan.

The Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) is the branch of the Mongol Empire in Asia. In 1260 when Qubilai Khan declared himself Great Khan, his realm included Mongolian, Chinese, Tangut, and Tibetan regions. In 1271 emperor Qubilai Khan proclaimed the Yuan dynasty on a Chinese model, employing Tibetan and Tangut monks. Tibetan Buddhism played an important role in the state, establishing a political model that would be emulated by later dynasties, including the Chinese Ming and Manchu Qing dynasties. The Mongols were major patrons of Tibetan institutions, and many Mongols converted to Tibetan Buddhism, though their interest declined with the fall of the empire.

A yurt, called “ger” in Mongolian, is a dome-like tent made of felt and an internal framework of wood slats used by nomads on the steppes of northern Asia. The yurt can be quickly assembled and disassembled and packed for travel and is still being used in Mongolia as a summer home.